Radio Moscow Sign to Century Media
San Diego heavy rock forerunners Radio Moscow have inked a deal to release their next album on Century Media Records. The trio will enter the studio soon to record the follow-up to 2014’s Magical Dirt (review here) with an eye toward a summer 2017 release. Given that everything Radio Moscow have put out to-date going back to their 2007 self-titled debut has come out via Alive Naturalsound, I’ll say this one hits as something of a surprise, and I feel like I haven’t even had enough time to process if it’s a bigger get for the label or for the band. Both maybe? I don’t know.
Either way, Radio Moscow definitely mark Century Media‘s biggest foray into heavy rock to-date in the current swing — lest we forget Fu Manchu were a Century Media band for a minute there — and as they were already one of the hardest-working — and, frankly, one of the best — live acts I’ve ever seen, I don’t anticipate this new label deal will slow their momentum any. Can it really be anything other than a win to push them further into headliner status? Not on any level I can think of.
Just off the PR wire:
RADIO MOSCOW Signs Worldwide Deal with Century Media Records
Southern Californian rock trio RADIO MOSCOW and CENTURY MEDIA RECORDS are proud to announce a worldwide partnership to release the band’s upcoming albums. RADIO MOSCOW already started songwriting and will enter the studio soon to release their fifth full length album in late summer 2017.
Guitarist and vocalist Parker Griggs comments: “Radio Moscow couldn’t be more stoked to be joining the Century Media family! When we met these guys we spent hours nerding out on obscure classics from our favorite era of Rock ‘n’ Roll (1965-1974)…. so we feel right at home! Excited to keep writing and working on the next Radio Moscow release on Century Media. Looking forward to 2017 with a new label and album! Peace n Love!”
Jens Prueter, Head of A&R at Century Media Europe adds: “A beautiful summer night at a club in the middle of Germany, some beers, a nice chat about weird 60s stuff and an amazing sweaty show: that’s a good start for a long time partnership. I’m very happy to welcome this highly talented band that is taking the roots to the roof!”
Trends come and go, but the idea of a bunch of guys getting together in a garage and playing the kind of music that makes the neighbors call the cops – that’s forever. And it’s that idea that’s crystallized in the form of Radio Moscow who took their name from an obscure 60s garage punk novelty single. The power trio led by the Stratocaster genius Parker Griggs have found THE formula: Crunching, heavy Sabbath-style chords topped with fiery solos that earn the right to be called Hendrixian. Radio Moscow plants their flag firmly in the territory where psychedelic rock and cranked-up blues meet. The sound is unabashedly retro (think Cream, Blue Cheer, Led Zep or Jimi Hendrix Experience), so it’s easy to see how it caught the ear of the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, who produced Radio Moscow’s 2007 self-titled debut.
With “Brain Cycles”, their second album, Radio Moscow proves that they’re not a cheap time machine but a direct descendant from the golden age of Rock ‘n’ Roll. In 2011, Griggs continued his psychedelic trip with “The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz” followed by “Magical Dirt” in 2014.
Parker Griggs (vocals, guitar), Anthony Meier (bass) and Paul Marrone (drums) hit the road hard in the U.S. and in Europe, touring with the likes of Graveyard, Witchcraft, Joe Bonamassa and Pentagram, followed by an appearance on the legendary German television program Rockpalast.
Coming off of what seems like endless touring proceeding and following the recording of the double-live gatefold “Live! In California”, Radio Moscow is ready to hit the studio again. “Live!…” was recorded absolutely live with no overdubs of any kind; New York Music Daily called it the Best Heavy Psych LP of 2016, proclaiming “there’s nothing that’s been released in 2016 that can touch this.”
The band toured the U.S., Europe, South America, and Australia around the release of the live document, landing at such festivals as Desert Daze (US), the Void Fest (Ger), Electric Funeral (US), Burg Herzberg Fest (Ger), and the Orbital Festival in Santiago, Chile, to name a few.
The live album wrapped up the first chapter of the band’s career, playing highlights from their first four studio albums. As Rolling Stone’s Dave DiMartino cited, “I would be lying if I did not say I have been completely taken with this…The band actively evokes all that was great about hard-rock trios, but does it with such gleeful abandon you’ve got to admire both their spirit and whatever time capsule they rode in on. Great fun.”
The story continues with a new chapter in 2017.
Discography:
Radio Moscow (2007)
Brain Cycles (2009)
The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz (2011)
3 & 3 Quarters (2012), early demos recorded in 2003 by Parker Griggs
Rancho Tehama EP (2013)
Magical Dirt (2014)
Live! In California (2016)
RADIO MOSCOW line-up:
Parker Griggs (vocals, guitar)
Anthony Meier (bass)
Paul Marrone (drums)
http://radiomoscow.net/
www.facebook.com/radiomoscowband
www.instagram.com/radiomoscowband
http://www.centurymedia.com/
https://www.facebook.com/centurymedia
