"Fashion goes through cycles"- a statement that gets thrown around pretty often. It hints at one of the basal points for art as a whole (and music in particular), the reclamation of past works as a template for new works.
Too many bands try to walk in the footsteps of those who blazed the trail as a guideline for their own path but fail to reach anywhere worth staying, unable to pay their influences due justice and incapable to stand out in the crowd.
So, when it comes to classic rock, is there any point of venturing further than the bands that defined the genre? Cue Radio Moscow.
After missing their 2009 European tour, last month I had a chance to redeem myself. The crowd gathered at the venue was an interesting sight. Hippie-looking geezers, hard-liner stereotype metalheads, fresh-out-of-work business men and the ever-present hipster crowd. Such wide range of diversity within the audience serves an indicator of the band's wide appeal as well as proof that to these days, classic rock is still something that many hold close to their heart, even if they were not around when it first happened.
Radio Moscow are a testament to that passion. Still in their early twenties, the band serves as a living tribute to the olden days. With a strong blues-influenced sound, they cut straight to the point with their brand of orthodox and pretty-much "heard-it-all-before" rock while being completely unapologetic about it. However, they've managed not to do the same mistakes of those that influenced them. They don't overplay the riffs they've learnt to hone nor do they sacrifice groove for experimentation sake. One can find great balance in their songs, between psych-laden tunes and more urgent, fast pacing rhythms. Dynamics are key.
So, even if they sound like they're stuck on a acid trip circa 1972, they don't sound updated. That's more than The Rolling Stones can say these days. All in all, Radio Moscow proves that old-fashion, balls-out, straight-up rock and roll is still a force to be reckoned with these days. And that, in itself, is a victory.
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