Sorta. Jimi Hendrix once described the Beach Boys as “a psychedelic barbershop quartet,” and Moxy have expanded upon that particular branch of Americana as only a Canadian alternative band could, or would, or should. Musically, they’re far superior to the Beach Boys--the frenzied eclecticism they bring to everything they do is precisely the quality the Boys abandoned the day Smiley Smile dropped off the charts. But who cares about the Beach Boys anyway? Give me a complete Smile box set, possibly Pet Sounds as well, and I’ll never have to spend another penny on them as long as I live.

Moxy Fruvous have little to do with the Beach Boys, which must be why I brought them up. Not only are they musically superior, they’re politically superior as well. The Boys have been Republicans longer than Moxy have been alive, and if they lived in America, Moxy would have to vote for Ralph Nader. (As did I!) “Stuck in the 90s Again” is an anthem for this generation blah blah blah...well actually it is. Or at least it’s one of those time-capsule tunes like “American Pie” that sum up their era and will continue to long after the artist is forgotten. Lyrically it’s hip the way only a Canadian alternative band taking wistful snapshots of the sheer nastiness of American society in the mid-90s could/would/should be. I wish there were some way to legislate at least one mandatory, daily, prime-time airing on every AM station in the USA...ah, well. What all those talkradio jockheads don’t know is that when they die, they’ll all be strapped into closets with a tape loop of that tune to be piped in as their only entertainment.

Not to be outdone, except by themselves, they followed that one up with “Happy Birthday Tricia, I’m In The Michigan Militia.” My fellow Americans: could it be these guys are trying to tell us something? If only we as a nation could see ourselves as others see us. Since it’s never going to happen, I’m just waiting for an American band foolhardy enough to make the trek up to Toronto to record a single about the evils of socialized medicine. Yeah, that’ll sell. A friend who’s spent far more time in Canada than I have tells me the thing that stikes him most about Canadians is this weird inferiority complex they have toward the States, when in fact there’s so much they could teach us! Which is not to say they’re totally cowed--did you know that twice as many Canadians believe Elvis is alive as would trade their health care system for America’s? (Mentally adding to the list: beer, beautiful women, doughnuts, over-the-counter painkillers, bacon, beer again, gun control, maple syrup, foreign policy, hockey, health care! -- “Things Canada Does Better Than the U.S.,” a.k.a. “Reasons to Maybe Move There”)

Where was I? Oh, yeah, trying to define Moxy Fruvous in terms of their American popstar antecedents. I thought it was gonna be fun, fun, fun, too. You can trace their roots all the way back to the Four Freshmen perhaps, or the Mills Brothers, but if it’s so necessary to compare them to another band, why kid around? They’re not the 90s Beach Boys, they’re the male Roches!