Library Voices, Taylor Knox, Tim Moxam - Horseshoe (Aug 28/14)

Changes are afoot in the Library. The personnel has some tweaks from years back and if you listen to the latest offering, For John EP, it would be tough to still tag them with their self-branded 'Pop as Fuck' label. They opened with a track from it, Anti-Matters of the Heart, and peppered the rest of the set with the majority of it including a heartfelt tribute to John Farrell before the new single in his memory. Even some of the down tempo cuts got the live treatment. Of course they are going to play the new music and it's not that it's completely out of place but it is a definite departure. I'm concerned because there are plenty of indie bands but far fewer groups that play indie pop as lustfully as this prairie group does. Naturally they still have the pop-ability and proved it on Haunt This House, Generation Handclap and Raymond Carver which got the people moving - plus a song that broke them to many which they thought they'd moved on from playing but did by special request, Step off the Map and Float. Notable that on old tunes the singer altered many of the lyrics to a spoken word format which seems to show his fatigue of them and comes across as phoning it in - we came to hear the songs as we know them (or reinterpreted) but not read to us. As a figurine of ET that matched the lead's t-shirt went around the room they faked us out by saying "this is a prairie song.. It's Prairie Girl by Rah Rah who we share a jam space with" before playing a song unknown to most (cover?). In encore they started to make up for it with Kundera on the Dance Floor and Traveller's Digest. Yet again they left beloved tunes like Drinking Games and 2012 on the shelf in favour of another song I did not recognize from any release, with a chorus of 'ain't no goddamn sonofa bitch.' This review may come across as a downer, written from a curmudgeon who hates change, when in fact it was a solid set from a great band that is worrying me with where they're heading.

Taylor Knox
Excellent musicianship from all three on stage, drum, bass and Knox on electric guitar but his lead vocals come across as quite flat and the same. It's a shame too because of the talent on stage that seems like it might be better served with a dose of charisma up front. The single Fire was a highlight with its mid-song breakdown that makes you wonder - why can't all their songs be like that?


Tim Moxam
A solo man plucking and strumming his single electric guitar and singing plus sparing harmonica, Tim was comfortable and confident on stage. With those guitar chops he has every right to be. After a few tunes he invited the Ivy, the young lady from Bruce Peninsula plus an armless partner (turns out they were behind her back under her denim jacket) who both provided mostly ooos and ahs. Even vocal solos on his original songs weren't words but seem like they could be if they put a little more into this project. For the cover of I'm on Fire their whoa and woo, plus his vocals made for a nice bare bones rendition. A 'shoe regular thought he sounded like the Righteous Brothers (all of them??) and I agree that he's got the guitar and a voice but we'll see if he can make an impression in the tough to make an impression world of solo singer-songwriters.

Lovely Feathers, Taylor Knox Band, Wax Atlantic - Dakota (Nov 7/13)

They said it had only been three years but for me it had been forever as I never saw The Lovely Feathers at all the first time around. My memory was of quirky fun and it was all that; perky and enjoyable. Sure the rust may have shown on a couple tracks as the members weren't quite in sync with each other or the impromptu encore that saw them remembering only a couple verses but the crowd was enthusiastic and forgiving. A five-piece male group that also featured double keys, one set being synths, that gave the set even more lightness. It seems people haven't strictly kept the records on the shelf during their absence, or maybe hooks like 'Pope John Paul, where you from? KRAKOW, POLAND' and 'She said hi to the man of the house. She said I am the man of the house' are hard to forget. Alongside In the Valley they also included a few new tracks which showed promise for an extended return, especially as these songs sounded more than alright. Even using one fresh tune for their highly-demanded but obviously unplanned encore worked well with a surging chorus, even if they missed their mark on the coordinated quick stop. That was the way the set went though, a little rough, a little quick, a little quirky but a lot of entertainment. Stick around.

Not sure if it was strictly a Taylor Knox night he was up second, fronting his three-piece eponymous band. The uniform seemed to be long hair but otherwise all black, notably bucked by the joyous drummer whose shirt pattern fell in line with the rug's print. None of this affected their rock and roll roots. Taylor's vocals seemed to be unclear and down in the mix so it was a slightly unfair first impression of his independent work but piqued interest for a future opportunity. It added a special edge when he swapped out for his 12 string. Yes, please!

The Wax Atlantic five benefited from the Toronto everyman's presence as Taylor Knox played his electric guitar throughout the set. This consisted of some very decent piano- based rock pop and the boys had fun with it throughout. For likenesses it's easy to point a finger to Waterloo's Will Currie who leads an indie piano pop troupe of his own but also hints of the Golden Dogs. The link from the Golden Dogs and their Paul McCartney cover can then awkwardly be drawn to mid era Beatles. Regardless of influence or similarity they stood their own, playing an early set to a sizable crowd of Young Lions.