This is real, dirty and gritty, play-until-the-fingers-bleed, sing-until-the-throat-is-red-raw, rock ‘n’ roll music. Don’t expect to sit back and relax to this set. When tracks such as “Death Of A Queen” and “Before It Burns” shoot forth from the speakers, they sandblast the sides on their way out. This is a sly, serious lesson in how to be a rocker and how to stick firmly to three chords and the truth in an age of pointless soul searching and self-exploration.
Radio Moscow have clearly remembered that people play music as much for enjoyment as they do for self-expression and the result is simply stunning. They have a real hunger to be heard and a fine side order of Ry Cooder-esque bluesiness and slide guitars to offset it. Magical Dirt, then, is a very heartfelt record which was obviously as much a joy for the band to make as it is for us to hear it.