Fresh off a festival-inclusive European run to support their 2022 debut album, Hair Of… (review here), El Perro will set out in two days’ time on a tour through frontman Parker Griggs‘ old stomping ground in the Midwest. Shows begin Wednesday in Davenport, Iowa, and end in Burlington, Iowa, and seem to be centered around the occasion of the five-piece making a stop in New Mexico — not really the Midwest, but the band don’t seem to mind traveling — for the Monolith on the Mesa fest, where they play alongside The Obsessed, Stöner, Mars Red Sky and more acts I won’t list because it pisses me off I won’t be there to see it. Info on that is here: https://monolithonthemesa.com/

You might note a couple lineup changes in the El Perro camp. I guess when you run headfirst into putting out a record, touring it as soon as and as much as possible, and keep going with that work ethic, you’re going to burn through some people. And Griggs‘ former (?) outfit Radio Moscow had its share of personnel changeover too. So be it. I look forward to their next album, hearing what they’ve learned from all this time on the road and how that manifests in their second batch of material. Probably a bit to go before they get there. Maybe I’ll be lucky enough to see them beforehand.

Dates on the poster, announcement/info after:

Well Europe that was QUITE DELIGHT. What an amazing month and so nice having the dog mark its territory over there. Huge thanks to all involved and to all the great folks we met. Now we are back in the USA. TOUR STARTS NEXT WEEK!!!

Huge shout to our buddy @andyclarridge for another killer tour poster ❤️(#129304#)(#127998#)❤️(#129304#)(#127998#)

See ya soon America!

EL PERRO is a brand new band led by guitarist/vocalist/songwriter/producer Parker Griggs of RADIO MOSCOW. The sound contains elements that fans of Radio Moscow will recognize, but this is rock music with a new, fresh spin and feel. The band’s debut album, “Hair Of El Perro”, takes heavy psychedelic rock as a starting point but jams into more syncopated territory, spicing its sound with Latin rhythms and hints of Funkadelic-style grooves. You could say that EL PERRO plays psychedelic funk rock, and you wouldn’t be wrong.

El Perro is:
Parker Griggs – Guitar/vocals
Jaron Yancey – Guitar
Shawn Davis – Bass
Lonnie Blanton – Drums
Tawny Harrington – Percussion

https://www.facebook.com/elperrotheband
https://www.instagram.com/elperrotheband/

https://elperrotheband.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AliveNaturalsoundRecords
http://instagram.com/alivenaturalsound
https://twitter.com/AliveRecords
https://alivenaturalsound.bandcamp.com/
http://www.alive-records.com/

El Perro, Hair Of… (2022)

If you were to ask me what my biggest regret was about watching Radio Moscow play each night on a seven-show run, my immediate response would be, “What the fuck are you talking about?” The San Diego trio killed it every single night on that tour, and I’m glad to see they’ve posted the track “Death of a Queen” from the forthcoming Alive Naturalsound LP, Magical Dirt, because now I feel like I have a chance to exorcise its catchy bounce from out of my head. Yeah, good luck.

They’re heading to Europe next month and it looks like they’ll be staying a while. Magical Dirt is out in June.

Dig it:

NEW SINGLE “Death of A Queen” by Radio Moscow now available to listen below!

New album “Magical Dirt” out June 17. Presale link and date coming soon.

Come dig some MAGICAL DIRT!

Europe tour starts next month! New shows just announced in Italy and Sweden! Check the dates below to see if we are coming near you.

APRIL :
15/04/14 : Turkey / Ankara @ Hayal Kahvesi
16/04/14 : Turkey / Izmir @ Hayal Kahvesi Performance
17/04/14 : Turkey / Istanbul @ Hayal Kahvesi Beyoglu
19/04/14 : France / Lyon @ Stone Rising Festival
20/04/14 : Germany / Mannheim @ 7er Club
21/04/14 : Germany / Dresden @ Groovestation
23/04/14 : Austria / Vienna @ Arena
24/04/14 : Germany / Munich @ Feierwerk
25/04/14 : Switzerland / Pratteln @ Pratteln
26/04/14 : Germany / Berlin @ Desertfest
27/04/14 : UK / London @ Desertfest

MAY :
15/05/14 : France / Hossegor @ L’escargot
16/05/14 : France / Bordeaux @ Bootleg
17/05/14 : France / Angouleme @ La Nef
20/05/14 : France / Montpellier @ Secret Place
21/05/14 : Spain / Barcelona @ Sala Appolo
22/05/14 : Spain / Madrid @ Shoko Club
23/05/14 : Spain / Bilbao @ Cafe Antzokia
24/05/14 : Spain / San Sebastian @ Sala Bukowski
28/05/14 : Belgium / Brussels @ Vk
29/05/14 : Germany / Siegen @ Freak Valley Festival
30/05/14 : Netherlands / Vlissingen @ De Piek
31/05/14 : Netherlands / Amsterdamn @ Winston

JUNE:
04/06/14 : France / Paris @ Glazart
06/06/14 : Danmark / Copenhagen @ Loppen
07/06/14 : Sweden / Gottborg @ Truckstop Alaska
12/06/14 : Italy / Roma @ Init
13/06/14 : Italy / Siena @ L’ars Festival
14/06/14 : Italy / Mentova @ Rocka ‘n’ Roll Festival

……More dates coming soon.

https://www.facebook.com/radiomoscowband/
https://soundcloud.com/alivenaturalsound

Radio Moscow, “Death of a Queen” from Magical Dirt (2014)

Memphis heavy rock trio The Dirty Streets proved their mettle with their 2011 sophomore outing, Movements. Between the album itself (review here) and the quality of their performance during subsequent touring (live review here), it wasn’t much of a surprise that the band were picked up by Alive Naturalsound for the release of the follow-up, Blades of Grass. The third full-length finds the three-piece of Justin Toland (guitars/vocals/percussion), Thomas Storz (bass/percussion) and Andrew Denham (drums/percussion) taking on the role collectively of producer alongside engineer Adam Hill, who recorded and mixed the 11 tracks/39 minutes of Blades of Grass in Memphis. Aside from a guest spot from Lucero‘s Rick Steff with piano on opener “Stay Thirsty” and organ on “Try Harder,” there isn’t much change evident in The Dirty Streets‘ overall ethic, though. Their songwriting remains perhaps the strongest element working in their favor, with memorable hooks peppered throughout the collection beginning with the already-noted opener and running through the title track and the later highlight “Keep an Eye Out,” and the performances of Toland, Storz and Denham come through clean and crisp with just enough edge to them to hold onto the summer-bluesy feel the band presented so naturally throughout the course of Movements. That’s not to say there are no signs of creative growth, however. Both in terms of the overall cleanliness of the production — Hill, who also contributes backing vocals and percussion, has worked with the likes of George Thorogood and The Raconteurs at Ardent Studios — and in the clarity of the band’s intent, Blades of Grass is a step forward from where The Dirty Streets were two years ago, and they seem to have that much more of an idea of how they want to sound moving forward. To that end, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if at some point they picked up a full-time keyboardist/organist, since Steff‘s work on “Stay Thirsty” and “Try Harder” fits so well with the band’s organic, grassroots-feeling heavy blues rock style, Toland‘s vocals keeping an edge of Blue Cheer inflection to them but becoming even more his own than they were last time out.

High points come at frequent intervals. “Stay Thirsty” starts Blades of Grass off strong with a commanding stomp and smooth transition to its hook, which despite being reminiscent of those Dos Equis commercials, is one of the album’s best and complemented suitably by the emergence of a secondary chorus in the bridge. The structure and roots of the band are traditional, but there’s nothing overly retro to The Dirty Streets‘ approach, and if anything, Blades of Grass sounds even more modern than did Movements, second cut “Talk” backing “Stay Thirsty” with affirmation of the record’s approach and a touch of start-stop funk to the lyrics, concerned with social issues but not engaging anything specifically as Storz offers an easy-rolling groove on bass that proves among the most satisfying throughout. Toland steps to the fore on guitar with “No Need to Rest” — not quite a shuffle musically, but close — as the band shifts gears from relying so heavily on the chorus to making the most of their instrumental chemistry, which is more than ample enough to carry them through. A mostly-acoustic reworking of the Movements title-track, dubbed “Movements #2” follows in well-percussed fashion, marking a turn more in superficial style than the underlying structure of the material or the warm, natural sensibility at the heart of The Dirty Streets, and both “Try Harder” and “Blades of Grass” prove standouts of the album as a whole, the former for what’s added to it via Steff‘s organ contribution and the latter because it’s the most accomplished blend of the various aspects of the band’s persona, putting light touches of Americana to work in a vaguely funky context (answering the earlier “Talk” and surpassing it in realizing some of the same ideas) with fluid rhythms, strong hooks and a tossed-off, spontaneous feel at a comfortable, mid-paced push that starts the second half of the album on a note even more striking than that which began the first.

Read more »

The addition of bassist Anthony Meier to Radio Moscow means that even since I saw them just about a year ago, the three-piece headed up by guitarist/vocalist Parker Griggs has completely replaced its rhythm section, rounded out by drummer Paul Marrone. So it goes, I guess. Now-former bassist Billy Ellsworth has another band going called Red Octopus and Meier comes from San Diego’s Sacri Monti, so in addition to the news, there’s two bands to check out in the update from the band below. Radio Moscow‘s latest release is the 2013 Rancho Tehama AirportEP.

Seems to me the lesson here is it’s time to see Radio Moscow again. There’s no hint of East Coast dates below, though the band drops word of a forthcoming return trip to Europe, so I guess that’s something. While we’re indulging wishful thinking based on absolutely nothing — a new album maybe?

Here’s the announcement:

We would like to give a warm welcome to new bassist Anthony Meier! We saw him jamming with San Diego psych rockers SACRI MONTI and knew he would make a perfect match for the Radio Moscow sound. We are super excited to show you the new songs and the slightly changed line up on our upcoming Europe tour!

We would also like to give a BIG thanks and a sad farewell to previous bassist Billy Ellsworth. Sadly it didn´t work out with Billy but we all remain good friends and wish Billy the best. You can still hear Billy´s bass skills in psych jammers Red Octopus (touring CA this summer with our buds JOY) !

and for us we will keep jamming on new tunes and getting ready for another journey to europe. See you all very soon!

-Parker, Paul and Anthony

Radio Moscow, “Rancho Tehama Airport” Live in Barcelona, Feb. 2, 2013

Come July 9, Memphis heavy rockers The Dirty Streets will make their debut on Alive Naturalsound with the full-length Blades of Grass. Their follow-up to the impressive 2011 outing, Movements (review here), it’s an album with a lot to live up to in terms of the smooth, blues and classic rock vibes the trio was able to capture their last time out, writing memorable songs rife with laid-back atmospheres that remained consistent even when tracks like “What Do You Know” were at their most driving. The band announced the record by unveiling the song “Stay Thirsty” — which added keys courtesy of Lucero‘s Rick Steff to their already potent brew of wide-pastured sunny summer blues — and today I have the pleasure of hosting the premiere of the Blades of Grass title-track.

The Dirty Streets, “Blades of Grass” from Blades of Grass

Recorded by Adam Hill at Ardent Studio in Memphis, Blades of Grass doesn’t so much clean up the sound the band presented on Movements as it does clarify it. The Dirty Streets — guitarist/vocalist Justin Toland, bassist Thomas Storz and drummer Andrew Denham — still come off as organic and prone to a touch of grit on “Blades of Grass,” which begins with a tension building guitar line of starts and stops that unfolds into an easy groove once Storz and Denham join Toland‘s progression. Ideas are clear, structures are unabashedly traditional, and they waste no time getting to the hook, which answers quickly any doubt about The Dirty Streets being able to follow what they delivered their last time out.

Toland‘s voice, still owing some of its cadence to Blue Cheer‘s Dickie Peterson, is more his own as, after the second chorus, Denham leads the way to a stop from which they emerge with the building lines, “I can’t move/I can’t walk/Blades of grass,” giving way to a solo that never goes over-the-top but feeds into the momentum built anyway and rounding out with heavy funk start-stops that finish the song with an undeniable groove. In setting anticipation high for the album to come, “Blades of Grass” does an excellent job of giving a sense of just where The Dirty Streets are coming from this time around — unless the rest of the record is polka or something. You never know.

The Dirty Streets will release Blades of Grass on July 9 through Alive Naturalsound. Limited colored vinyl is available for pre-order at the Bomp-mailorder store.

The Dirty Streets on Thee Facebooks

Alive Naturalsound Records

Last time we heard from them, Midwestern classic rockers Radio Moscow were welcoming back drummer Paul Marrone for an impressive run of European tour dates and working on putting together a new 7″ that would include the tracks “Rancho Tehama Airport” and “Sweet Little Thing.” Well, time marches on. The tour continues to firm up, and in the meantime, the band has posted both cuts off the new single online for checking into. Would you be surprised if I told you bluesy baddassery abounds? You probably shouldn’t be.

Here’s the latest and the tunes:

Europe tour Jan/Feb/March 2013! Here’s the most up to date list. Some venues and dates have changed, take a look and see if we are coming to your town.

28/01/13 France Bordeaux Rocher de Palmer + The Datsuns
30/01/13 Portugal Porto Hard Club
31/01/13 Spain Madrid La boite
01/02/13 Spain Bilbao Azkena
02/02/13 Spain Barcelona Apolo 2
03/02/13 Spain TBA
04/02/13 Spain TBA
06/02/13 France Nantes Le Stakhanov
07/02/13 France Lorient Le Galion
08/02/13 France Angouleme La Nef
09/02/13 France Saint-Brieuc La Citrouille
10/02/13 France Le Havre Mc Daid’s
12/02/13 Belgium Arlon L’Entrepote
13/02/13 Netherlands Nijmegen Merleijn
14/02/13 Belgium Charleroi Le Vecteur
15/02/13 Netherlands Leeuwarden Podium Asteriks
16/02/13 Netherlands Deventer Burgerweeshuis
17/02/13 France Watrellos La Boite à Musique
18/02/13 TBA
19/02/13 France Paris Nouveau Casino
20/02/13 France Montpellier Secret Place
21/02/13 Switzerland Geneve L’Usine
22/02/13 Germany Siegen Le Vortex
23/02/13 Belgium Antwerpen Trix
26/02/13 Austria Hohenems Ensigen Club
27/02/13 Italy Genova La Claque
28/02/13 Italy Roma Init
01/03/13 Italy Bologna Covo Club
02/03/13 Italy Pisa TBA
04/03/13 Turkey Ankara Eski Yeni
05/03/13 Turkey Istanbul TBA
06/03/13 Turkey Eskisehir TBA
07/03/13 Turkey Bursa TBA
08/03/13 Greece Thessaloniki Gaia
09/03/13 Greece Athens Six Dogs
10/03/13 Greece Patra Politeia Live Bar

Radio Moscow, “Rancho Tehama Airport”

Radio Moscow, “Sweet Little Thing”