oxy Fruvous combines sounds of three decades to create new genre of music John Amorose staff writer Elvis Presley. The Beatles. The Sugar Hill Gang. Prodigy. Each has caused fear to reach into the hearts of the musical establishment. Each has steam rolled society like a storm over a Kansas farmhouse. Moxy Fruvous is this type of band. They combine the pop harmonies of the 1960'5, disco guitar riffs They act as a much needed breath of fresh air, in a time when the vast majority of bands are so square you could roll them on a Las Vegas craps table. from the 1970'5, chunky, three minute pop nuggets from the 1980's, and an uncanny knack for spunk and peppiness, noticeably lacking in these 1990'5. With their third album You Will Go to the Moon, Moxy Fruvous attempts a new, revolutionary style of music. They act as a much needed breath of fresh air, in a time when the vast majority of bands are so square you could roll them on a Las Vegas craps table. Moxy Fruvous has already received much success in their native Canada since their self-titled independent release in 1992. Within a few months, this self titled debut was certified Gold in Canada, and catapulted the group to opening act status for the legendary Bob Dylan. The record stayed number one pn,C.an o adlan independent , c I I4I4fi'4 O ;AP;VAt,A, year. Major record labels soon took ACROSS 1 The best 5 Throws, as dice 10 Catch sight of 14 Freshly 15 City in Nebraska 16 Wheel hub 17 Stratagem 18 Stratum 19 Sign on a door 20 Of the stars 22 Unwavering 24 Contended 26 Captain of fiction 27 Deviates 31 Overcharge for tickets 34 Lennon's widow 35 Brown color 37 Relative to the onion 39 Stage show part 41 Play a guitar 43 Path 44 Like a moray 45 Long-necked bird 47 Way traveled: abbr. 48 Station 51 Part of NLRB 53 Charles Lamb 55 Yearn 56 Parade fallout 60 Drizzled 64 Field 65 Sound reasoning 67 Weathercock 68 Opp. of fern. 69 WW II plane,— Gay 70 School jacket 71 If not 72 Hinder 73 Scatters seed DOWN 1 Scarlett O'Hara's home 2 Burden 3 Nuisance 4 Veer 5 Places of learning 6 Physicians' org. 7 Utters notice, resulting in the band's signing to Warner Music Canada. The first album, 1993's Bargainville, went platinum while the band toured sold out theaters across Canada. The band even garnered a Juno nomination for group of the year. An extensive tour throughout the U.S. and Europe was to follow, where the band became widely known for the musicality, humor, and energy put into their live shows. Through their non-stop touring, Moxy Fruvous developed a fanatical following, known internationally as the "Fruheads." In 1995, the band released their second album Wood, a more intimate and personal record which was highlighted by fluent instrumental performances and trademark four part vocals. 1997 brought about You Will Go to the Moon for The Bottom Line Record Company, a new label formed by Allan Pepper and Stanley Snadowsky, owners of the legendary New York venue The Bottom Line, and Hank Medress, veteran producer and executive. If first impressions were everything, I would have punted You Will Go to the Moon across the apartment quad. The instruments used are far different then anything that I've ever heard before on a pop album. The ever-harmonizing voices of bandmates liar) Ghomeshi, Mike Ford, Dave Matheson, and Murray Foster are frighteningly serene and even a bit nauseating at times. But as much as I kicked and screamed, the album, and the Moxy Fruvous sound, grew on me. Each song is completely different from the next. 11.4010AFIAggl**C4944 "Get in the Car" are catchy, toe- 1997 Tnbune Media Services, Inc All rights reserved. 8 Greek letter 9 Vaughan and Purcell 10 Gain in size 11 Daddy 12 Finished 13 Pavilion 21 Affected manners 23 Resinous material 25 Profundity 27 Quantity of medicine 28 Readied the presses 29 Sheer fabric 30 Temptress 32 Memorize 33 Five: pref. 36 Of hearing 38 On an even --- 40 Bodoni, e.g. 42 Automobile 46 Ship of 1492 49 Bullfight cheer 50 Named 52 Pointed arches tapping, pure pop masterpieces. Then the band down-shifts to the melodious, and almost hypnotic "Lee" and the Middle-Eastern seasoned "Sahara" and "No No Raja." "Kick in the Ass" and the title track "You Will Go to the Moon" proved that Hanson and Weird Al aren't the only acts that can musically make their listeners laugh. See answers Page 54 Make amends 56 Approached 57 Spoken 58 Promontory 59 " plenty 0f... My only problem with the album is that Moxy Fruvous tried a little too hard to be different, but they shouldn't be criticized for that. It's bands like this, that stand like barbarians at the gates of Rome and shout "we will make you laugh. We will make you dance. You will go to the moon!" On my classes-I'd-skip-to-go see-them scale, Moxy Fruvous receives an impressive 4 out of a possible 5 out of pure respect for guts and originality—and for the fact that they covered the Bee Gee's classic "I've Gotta Get a Message To You," and did a damn good job with it. Plus, I've got to see what these guys try doing live. For anyone interested in seeing Moxy Fruvous live, they will be performing November 29 at Top Cat's in Cincinatti, December 2 at Rosebud in Pittsburgh, and at Styleen's in Syracuse on December 5. MOXY FRUVOUS (shown at right) has introduced a unique and innovative style of music to pop culture. Band members include Jian Ghomeshi, Mike Ford, Dave Matheson, and Murray Foster. 61 Western alliance 62 Sufficiently, archaically 63 Lairs 66 de France Features Erie writer Rick Lopez visits Behrend The rewards and difficulties of being an artist in a small community are discussed "I write to order this intense mess that's going on in my head," believes Rick Lopez, an Erie artist who visited Behrend this Monday, "You can get rich entertaining, but if you want to do art, you bang your head against the wall until you die; you love it, or you don't do it." -Rick Lopez Erie writer, musician and publisher November 17, in the Studio Theatre. Lopez, Erie's most prolific long-term, small-time publisher and renowned member of Erie's artistic "underground," has been involved with publishing, writing and making music for nearly twenty years. In an informal, intimate literature reading and discussion, Lopez described the sacrifices made an the rewards received from a life immersed entirely in the arts. While the money isn't exactly good, Lopez feels compelled to write: as a child, he wrote for self indulgence; as a young adult, he found writing to be therapeutic; and now, as a grown man, he writes to by Kristi McKim features editor The Behrend College Collegian Thursday, November 20, 1997 -Page 9 enact his "savior complex"—he believes he could "save the world if only [he] could find the right words." Such a mission he pursues in his publication of the magazine Baseball and the 10,000 Things. In this work, he celebrates and sentimentalizes the sport of baseball—a theme which he considers heavily in his work, as he uses baseball as a metaphor for life. "It's not about baseball; it's about intellectual fervor. I'm ranting, obviously," states Lopez. "If I can explain to some guy who only understands baseball not to hate negroes, then my agenda is accomplished." His "approach to everything is to revere it and get that crazy sort of holiness out of it." His writing, itself, reminiscent of the Beat generation's work (particularly Kerouac), is full of rhyme and alliteration. His essays are deeply intimate, direct and intensely driven; his work exhibits a consciousness and directness toward the reader, as his poetic personal essays seem to plead for understanding and appreciation of the themes which he discusses. In his establishment of his career in the arts, he feels that it worked to his advantage to stay in Erie, as opposed to moving to more culturally-renown cities (i.e. New York, San Francisco). Here, he was able to make important connections and establish relationships for such a career. The only disadvantage to a career such as Lopez's is the financial struggle which accompanies the rewards of artistic expression. At one point, Lopez worked eight hours a day to pay the bills, five hours a day to earn money to eat, and five hours a day writing. Financing such an arts habit requires supplemental jobs; Lopez currently makes countertops for Robertson's Kitchens. "My obsession is such that the money is almost an afterthought," Lopez states. Certainly, his obsession and fascination with art is evident through the intense reverence and dedication he has toward his work. The importance of expression is so important to him that it cannot be financially valued. He philosophizes, "you can get rich entertaining, but if you want to do art, you bang your head against the wall until you die; you love it, or you don't do it." Comments on anything at all? Submit a letter to the editor at bo s eio,ll2 a:l4 sm necessary
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