One of the best ways to think about Moxy Fruvous is to think of their music as a good editorial cartoon -- a humorous, stylized, succinct commentary of our modern political or social world; instantly understandable and always approachable. That seems a bit heady for a folk-rock band, but Moxy is the real deal...a nugget of intelligent, witty, fun music in a sea of pop fluff.
Starting as street corner a cappella singers in Toronto, Canada, Moxy (Mike Ford, Murray Foster, Jian Ghomeshi and David Matheson) have always based their music in strong vocal harmonies. With each album they have enriched their sound by adding different elements like the classic folk instrumentation of guitar and banjo or the modern touches of a Moog synthesizer and an electric piano. In their latest album You Will Go To The Moon, their third, they even play with eastern sounds and power-pop grooves.
Putting their musical talent aside for a moment (which is hard to do since these four are versatile and solid musicians), the spark that really draws people to Moxy is their ability to move seamlessly from upbeat, quirky numbers showing the odd traits of culture (like "Ash Hash" and "Lazy Boy") to heart-wrenching ballads that show the sadder realities in modern society (like "Gulf War Song" and "Fly").
Moxy is one of the most talented and thought-provoking bands around today and have many a loyal follower in this and several other cities (they like to call themselves Fruv-heads) who flock together whenever the band comes to town. And this time Moxy is playing a free, pre-Thanksgiving show at Ernie's Club Twang in the back of Periscope Records, Wednesday, November 26 (7pm).
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