Moxy Früvous / Moxy Fruvous

First spotted by a CBC radio executive while busking in Toronto, the four members of Moxy Fruvous used their theatrical experience to set them apart. Their street-side set included rap, folk, impromptu theatrics, comedy, and political satire. Mike Ford, Murray Foster, David Matheson sing and play guitar and bass, while Jian Ghomeshi sings and plays drums. After a cassette reached number one on Canadian indie charts, the band was signed by Atlantic and released the wildly eclectic Bargainville in early 1994. Wood appeared a year later after a lengthy break from touring, but the highly personal album was not released in the United States and caused the band to doubt the efforts from their label. The next year's B Album (a compilation of B-sides) was also not released in the US, so Moxy Fruvous stepped back into the studio to put together You Will Go to the Moon in 1997. In 1998, the American label Velvel Records picked up the band and released the previous two unreleased records as well as 1998's Live Noise, followed a year later by the mature and gentle Thornhill. Live Noise was a massive success due to the strength of Moxy Fruvous' powerful live shows, and the band gained a rabid following a la Phish as their tours became extremely successful. Carrying this into the next century, 2000's quirky The C Album was a return to their more bizarre early '90s material.