Pure Joy
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Pure Joy

Guelph, Ontario, Canada | SELF

Guelph, Ontario, Canada | SELF
Band Pop Rock

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

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"Jukebox - Karateka"

Karateka is a fun, eclectic album, accessible for listeners with varying degrees of musical experience. With contributions from Tom Schiks (Your Neck of the Woods) and a healthy dose of string, bluegrass is never far from pop-rock. Though a good enough album to play over, Karateka feels like a stepping-stone. It’s a fertile ground, full of different styles and influences, suggesting the many possible directions the band could go but not spending too much time on any one in particular. Wright explores imagery and allegory like a skilled storyteller, his harp and guitar meeting a sturdy, versatile voice in a union that is often pleasantly haunting. Ricci adds to the album with a voice a touch more inner city, but behind both their words all I keep hearing is “progress.” - The Ontarion (University of Guelph)


"Adventures in Positivity"

"Texting Mackenzie manage to pull together a respectable debut EP that combines their youthful energy with some classic indie rock influences."
- Exclaim!

"(The Annex) mixes punky garage rock with bouncy indie dance-rock..."
- Chart

"Texting Mackenzie keeps up a fast and upbeat tempo in their songs with the vocals to match. The lead singer has an incredible vocal range paired with his melodic guitar playing style which is layered with an brilliantly creative use of distortion. Combine that with the clean and driving beat from the drums and you have the perfect combination -- they simply complement each other to the nth degree."

- North by East West
http://www.nxew.ca/2010/03/texting-mackenzie-indie-attic-video.html

"(Quoi de Neuf?) is totally worth it... great songwriting... catchy tunes."
- Peter Demakos, CFRU 93.3 FM

"Texting Mackenzie's sound is powerpop with sweet melodies and dirty guitars."

- Art & Music, Hamilton http://frwy.ca/music

"Texting Mackenzie are delightfully eclectic, mixing indie, pop, rock, folk and punk into an awesome live show!"

- Jean-Paul de Roover's Twitter

"Texting Mackenzie have conquered the critical cusp of the
clever-to-catchy continuum."

- Grant Partridge, http://eardrums.ca

"They are a live band to see... there's something very cool about what they did. There's a sound to them... a retro-rock-and-roll sound, but also something very 'under the radar'. Simple songs done very well... something to check out!"
- Doug Ralph, Do You Hear What I Hear, CHUO FM (Ottawa). - Various Sources


"Herohill Halifax"

Texting Mackenzie - "Quoi de Neuf"

In the late 90's, Halifax was over run with musical talent. Unbelievably, especially if you consider today's market, bands were turning down record contracts to avoid being labeled as sell-outs and to focus on the music and forming a sound. Over time that "sound" slowly filtered into our DNA like a love of donairs, constantly discussing the weather and stopping for pedestrians. Heavy riffs, minor chords, and the classic loud-quiet-loud progressions that cranked up the energy to a fever pitch rang from almost every bar in Halifax. Sigh.

So when Texting Mackenzie jump start their Quoi de Neuf EP with the prototypical Hali sounding The Annex, you can't help but fall in love the ear pleasing melodies. But rather than praise the band for sounding like the countless acts that picked clean a once fruitful orchard so many years ago (no matter how great the results sound, because trust me, The Annex is le jam), it's the remaining songs that showcase the creativity and future of the band.

Freckle Face uses a driving acoustic riff and some piano to showoff the band's ability to deliver a more standard pop sound, but TM still puts their stamp on the song when they spend the last minute adding the needed muscle and chaos to the well timed climax. Ozma Redux is a loud/quiet/loud anthem that shows the band willing to let the catchy hook do the work and showcase Robin Jools Wright's sci-fi heavy lyrics. For that three-minutes, it's impossible to sit still, especially when the band hits full stride which makes the shift to the classic, folk/pop Keen Speciman even more jarring. The nice duet with O'Darling's Ida Maldstone is well put together - the two vocalists mesh well and the mandolin really adds to the authenticity of the emotion - and on its own it would sound impressive, but I have to admit the abrupt change of pace derails the momentum of the EP.

Thankfully, the band finishes the 6-song effort strongly. The infectious bass line and group vocals on Municipal Pride get you moving again, and leads you happily into the most surprising and rewarding effort on Quoi de Neuf. RSVP dips into an almost soulful indie pop, where Wright's vocals stretch to their limit in a Ted Leo-like fashion and the band does what so few ever succeed at; putting their best foot forward to finish the race.
- Ack @ Herohill


"Kenora Daily Miner coverage"

2 / 2 - Friday, April 30, 2010

Guelph band's first tour stops for coffee in Kenora

Edition: Final
Source: BY JON THOMPSON, MINER AND NEWS
Section: News Page: 11
Every member of Guelph's Texting Mackenzie and some of their fans have a different story of what the band's name means. Its singer, songwriter and guitarist Robin Jools Wright is the only one who knows it was a gem he heard a girl say one time and if it's anything more, that's his art.
Wright was a drama student in Toronto who described himself as "the guy at the party who brought out the guitar." After what he called a quarter-life crisis, he realized the effort he put into song writing and performing drew away from the calibre of his acting and he moved to Guelph to start a band. The 27-year-old and his band recorded an album in two weeks and is headed out on his first cross-country tour, staying with family and promoting the album of his best six songs.
"I'm nervous. It's completely DIY (Do It Yourself). There's no label or financial backing. I have been scrounging my money and making phone calls," he said. "It's going to be real skimpy, we're managing to crash on floors and we're not eating out a lot."
Organizing his tour, he linked to Kenora singer/songwriter Bryan King through CBC3's database, saw a common thread in the solo work of the guitarist for When We Get There as well as Mike Procyshyn and the Comfort In Ghosts. King chose to put the latter on the bill.
"I write a lot of unrequited love songs," Wright explained. "Not necessarily consomated romance but it's a lot of possibility. A lot is something that could happen. None of my love songs are about any girl in particular ..."
He then admitted the exception was his track RSVP is about a girl he once dated from Kenora.
Texting Mackenzie is playing at HoJoe Coffee and Books on Tuesday, May 4. - Kenora Daily Miner


Discography

Coming Spring 2012

Debut album titled "Mean Every Word"

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Available by request

CFRU 93.3 - Guelph
http://cfru.ca

Photos

Bio

Pure Joy unites Guelphites Scott Fitzpatrick (Nate Coles Trio, Mo' Kauffey) and Rachael Bishop with former members of Texting Mackenzie, Robin Wright and Alex Ricci, who after being given time to examine the two-year tenure of their previous band, decided to focus on what made it most enjoyable - sweet, emotionally driven harmonies and memorable hooks. Pure Joy both takes influence from bands of the previous five decades, as well as hiding those influences while creating something completely unique.

The name stems from a song from punk pioneers the Minutemen, and was chosen by the band because it is pursuit often confused for materialism and empty passion in society and it is simple and pronounceable with an emotive resonance (in honour of bands like Joy Division).

Live, Pure Joy turns heads, captivating audiences of all musical interests throughout their fast-paced shows, and leaving them wanting more.

Recording and rehearsing tirelessly, Pure Joy toils through the winter in expectation of a fruitful and fun summer!

Band Members