Radio Moscow

Named for the pre-Cold War precursor to the propaganda outlet Voice of Russia, Radio Moscow operate as a psych-tinged blues-rock trio based in Ames, Iowa, projecting an anachronistic retro sensibility. Whereas outfits such as the Black Keys, whose guitarist Dan Auerbach produced the band's debut album, and the White Stripes favor a stripped-down, contemporary spin on the classic power-trio format, Radio Moscow evoke the era when Cream, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Blue Cheer dominated and the authority of the Marshall stack went unchallenged. Although the group's initial recordings, notably the self-titled 2007 debut, drew primary inspiration from earlier sounds, subsequent releases including The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz (2011) and Magical Dirt (2014) introduced a heavier style that folded in doom and stoner-metal textures.

The Ames-based project originated in 2004 when garage-punk devotees Parker Griggs and Luke McDuff, whose interests had veered toward the weightier side of late-'60s psychedelia, began working together. After a Black Keys concert the pair handed Auerbach a demo; impressed, he agreed to produce their first album and arranged a deal with his Alive Records imprint. Although Griggs and McDuff tracked the self-titled debut as a duo, they enlisted drummer Mayuko to solidify the live trio shortly before its release.

The band remained a two-piece for the hard-edged Brain Cycles in 2009 and the still denser The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz in 2011. Alive Records issued 3 and 3 Quarters in 2012, an album Griggs had recorded solo in 2003 at age seventeen while more strongly shaped by Pebbles-style garage rock. Magical Dirt, arriving in 2014, introduced a revised rhythm section of bassist Anthony Meier and drummer Paul Marrone alongside Griggs. With the configuration now fixed as a power trio, the ensemble captured its amplified stage presence on the 2016 release Live in California. The next year the group signed with Century Media Records and delivered New Beginnings, its fifth studio album, steeped in heavy psych.