Moxy Früvous
Country of origin:
Canada
Type of music generally:
Comedic pop/rock
Status:
Most recent release, The 'c' Album (2000)
See also:
Wikipedia's entry for Moxy Fruvous
Comparisons:
Arrogant Worms?
Covers/own material:
Own and covers
General comments:
früvous is more of a busking comedy troupe turned pop group. a wacky band of canadians who combine the best features of a barber shop quartet and the firesign theatre, and john gorka. i've never really cared for their albums but have enjoyed the live sets (though, frankly, even they have grown tiring over time). (woj@smoe.org)Moxy Früvous. Dammit. These guys are great. Their first album, Bargainville showed that they could be topical and quirky; the B Album showed that they were damn hilarious. You Will Go to the Moon really shows that they can write good music. (Paul2k@aol.com)
yeah früvous are a great band! (JC214@aol.com)
To be very fair, I am a huge früvous fan. But their stuff does cover a range of styles. If you are interested in getting to know the band (well worth your while if you ask me), and if you are not befuddled by a wry canadian spirit and sense of humor (as clearly some here are), then I would urge you to check out Bargainville, their first major label release. This is the classic früvous album, and in my opinion a work of genius. It is a large part a cappella (a particular interest of mine), but also lots of wry humor (a song about a guy who's girlfriend would rather read and hang out with authors than go out; an ode to the lazy boy as an informed commentary on our pop-sofa-culture, etc.), but overall very very fun. The rest of their albums are good too, but different (more instrument based but still with lots of strong harmony).
As far as seeing them live, a large concert hall is *NOT* the way to see them. Go see them at a club, where you can stand right up close to the stage and heckle! They are all actors by upbringing and education, and they have a great stage-presence and repartee with the audience. And make sure to sing along to "King of Spain". (mjmjminla@yahoo.com)They have a very loyal following, so there are people who do not feel as I do about them. When we saw them, I thought a more appropriate name for the group was "They Might Be They Might Be Giants, Only a Lot More Annoying." They're very talented musically and vocally, but I think their taste is, at its best, adolescent and provincial, and at its worst, cringeingly sophomoric. They're not anywhere near as funny as they think they are, and their musically stiff (though technically impressive) delivery does not go very far to make up for the artistic aridity of their material. I think they could really make a name for themselves doing kids' birthday parties and suburban JayCee meetings. Maybe Lions Club luncheons. Senior citizens' homes. Bus stops. Anywhere I won't be. (lissener@wwa.com)
Moxy Früvous is a reasonably talented band with a great sense of humor, and a live Moxy Früvous show is a ridiculously fun experience. If you go expecting a display of brilliant musicianship you'll be disappointed, but if you go expecting just a really fun and enjoyable show you'll probably have a good time. (mcurry@io.com)
While I'm certainly not Moxy's biggest fan, and the only album of theirs I have ever been motivated to listen to more than once is their live CD, I have to step in here and agree. They are a ridiculous amount of fun live. No, they're not geniuses or brilliant artists, but they're hilarious, and they do harmonize really well. (meth@smoe.org)
For the record, I like Moxy Früvous. Moxy Früvous really do have to see live to truly appreciate. (Matthew_Woods@usa.net)
Comments about live performance:
Anyway, next came Moxy Früvous, a band of four singers and such. They were pretty silly—really silly—and did a song accompanied by Nazi salutes about "America's Hero—Rush Limbaugh" which had me howling. Part of the humor was seeing these guys dancing about goosestepping and saluting. Good stuff. (brad@lightfallsdesign.com)They were great. I'd heard them talked about a lot around here, but never heard any of their music. Great stuff—I'd definitely see them again. "King of Spain" is indeed a classic. :) (c. 1996)
Moxy Früvous did a wonderfully funny, fun grooving set, as always. I'm far from being a Frühead—seeing them more than one or twice a year would get annoying real quick—but I do enjoy the Früvous experience every once in a while. woj is of the opinion that they should forget about set lists and just do improv all night, and I tend to agree. They're all very talented musicians, and they could definitely pull it off.
Alas, their threatened version of "O Canada" never materialized...but they managed to get some great New York-centered digs in during "Minnie The Moocher" and several between-song tangents. Jian Gomeshi's "Persian Cowboy" riff was particularly amusing. (9/00)
Moxy Früvous stormed the stage. Their set was half an hour too long, but they were on last so nobody cared. I have to admit that when they turned around a heckler's slung "eat shit!" so that every single denizen of the big hill was screaming, "Eat shit!" on command throughout the night, it was pretty damned funny. They also made snide comments about Dan Bern, the American elections, and Camp Früvous overrunning Camp Nields-Nook and completely obliterating them (an event which got blown a little bit out of proportion, but hey, I'm sure the Nookers will get their revenge next year, they're already planning it). I could never be a Frühead—Moxy toes the line of obnoxious a bit too close for my taste—but they're tons of fun to see once or twice a year. (c., 2001, meth@smoe.org)moxy delivered the goods with "the greatest man in america" (a tongue in cheek ode to rush limbaugh) and a snide song about the america-centric olympics that they had penned earlier in the afternoon. their infectious humour and upbeat songs got the crowd up and grooving in a froüvish way. they were probably the highlight of weekend for most people, and i wager that they will be invited back. (woj@smoe.org)
As usual they were awesome. The cool thing was they played for a long time—and rehashed some standards ("Spiderman", "Green Eggs and Ham") that I hadn't seen them do in a while. Since I am already so familiar with their shtick (there were only 1 or 2 new things that I'd never seen/heard before) I felt like their manager or something. And the sound was pretty awful—too loud to the point of distortion (very tinny). All in all a terrific show that everyone should go see. (mjmjminla@yahoo.com)
Tonight I caught a fantastic live show by Moxy Früvous. (Gee, isn't that a surprise.) They were in fine form, with the usual non-stop patter and endless ribbing and impromptu songs about the lovely planned community that is Columbia. They wrote a special song based on what they learned of its history in the visitor's center. (Hey, it looks just like the models! It's a planned community designed and built by robots. The ducks in the pond are CIA agents in training. And my favorite— attempting to encite the crowd to riot and storm nearby restaurants making off with the cutlery. Probably no more than 10 people would get arrested, and all the rest of us would get some free cutlery.) (neal)
Recommended first album:
Bargainville or Live Noise
Recordings:
- The Independent Cassette (c. 1993)
- Bargainville (1994)
- wood (1995)
- The 'b' Album (b-sides and rarieties, 1999)
- You Will Go To The Moon (1997)
- Live Noise (live, 1998)
- Thornhill (1999)
- The 'c' Album (b-sides and rarieties, 2000)
Bargainville
Release info:
1994—WEA/ATLANTIC
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Recommended for fans of comic pop
Group members:
Mike Ford—vocals, conga, guira, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica, kabosy, wood block
Murray Foster—vocals, anvil, bass, electric guitar
Jian Ghomeshi—vocals, bass, conga, drums, percussion, shaker, tambourine
Dave Matheson—vocals, accordion, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Produced by:
Moxy Früvous
Comments:
Crisp harmonies, lots of nutty satire, the album is great, live they are even better. (mjmjminla@yahoo.com)
wood
Release info:
1995—Warner Music Canada—10616; 1998—Bottom Line Records, (USA)—47306
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Recommended for fans of comic pop
Group members:
David Matheson—vocals, guitar, accordion, piano
Mike Ford—vocals, guitar, percussion, piano
Jian Ghomeshi—vocals, drums, percussion, tin whistle
Murray Foster—vocals, bass
Guest artists:
Danny Levin—violin on 3 tracks
David Karkauer—clarinet on 1 track
Lorin Sklanmberg—vocals on 1 track
Produced by:
Moxy Früvous and Michael Koppelman
Comments:
Less a cappella style, more mainstream—sounds like they're trying to break through, but I suspect it won't happen with this album because even it is still too obscure—on first listen: a disappointment; on second listen—brilliant, but even more subtle and understated than Bargainville; and a whole lot darker and gloomier (is this a new trend—is the world really this bad? I think not... :-) (mjmjminla@yahoo.com)I've only had a couple listens to this one so far, but it seems a much more earnest album than their previous one. It's not going to be a huge hit, really. And it's been poorly promoted owing to the general lack of "King of Spain"ish tracks on it. (Though the "Present Tense Tureen" number is quite cute.) It's okay, but hasn't moved me. Maybe I should listen to it more. (nkg@vcn.bc.ca
The 'b' Album
Release info:
1999—Warner (Canada)/Bottom Line (U.S.)
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Recommended for fans of comic pop
Group members:
Moxy Früvous—multi instruments, voices
Produced by:
Moxy Früvous, Andy Ridenour, Larry Groc
Comments:
The 'b' Album is another must-have collection of hilarious songs. (mjmjminla@yahoo.com)
You Will Go To The Moon
Release info:
1997—Velvel/Bottom Line
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Recommended for fans of comic pop
Group members:
Mike Ford—vocals, electric guitar, guitar
Murray Foster—vocals, bass, drums, Fender Rhodes, guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, talking drum
Jian Ghomeshi—vocals, drum loop, drums, dumbek, percussion, piano
Dave Matheson—vocals, accordion, banjo, bass, Fender Rhodes, guitar, electric guitar, Moog synthesizer, piano, saxophone, Wurlitzer
Guest artists:
Rob Preuss—drum loop, theremin
Stephen Traub—drum loop
Danny Levin—string, string arrangements
Produced by:
Moxy Früvous and Stephen Traub
Comments:
You Will Go to the Moon is pretty much a smooshing down of The Beatles' styles into 11 or so songs. This album really shows that they can write good music. (Paul2k@aol.com)
Live Noise
Release info:
1998—Warner (Canada)/Bottom Line (US)
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended for fans of comic pop
Group members:
Mike Ford—vocals, electric guitar, guitar
Murray Foster—vocals, bass, drums, Fender Rhodes, guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, talking drum
Jian Ghomeshi—vocals, drum loop, drums, dumbek, percussion, piano
Dave Matheson—vocals, accordion, banjo, bass, Fender Rhodes, guitar, electric guitar, Moog synthesizer, piano, saxophone, Wurlitzer
Produced by:
Moxy Früvous
Comments:
It's got some damn funny bits! And hearing the live versions of the songs has given me a whole new appreciation for the last two Früvous studio albums, which didn't hit me all that hard at the time. (Sherlyn.Koo)I was hoping for the "Billy Jean" cover (sometimes referred to as "Billy Jian") with the lead banjo, but "Psycho Killer" is one of their best recent covers. The slowed down "King of Spain" is referred to on the album as the "cranky monarch version", but fans have been calling it "The Grunge of Spain" for years now. It's hilarious (in my opinion)! How many bands do you know that do a spoof-cover of one of their own songs? And then put it on an album!
23 tracks total: 11 moxy früvous original songs; 3 covers; 7 banter tracks; 2 "spontaneous songs".
This is the first moxy früvous album that really does a good job portraying what the band is like. Highly recommended. (cos@wbrs.org)
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