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HANG ON MIKE
(RPM Records)
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When Stoughton-bred Mike Viola was in junior high, as his band’s Web site tells us, he "played the Boston suburbs in all their sexually frustrated prepubescent glory." Now the charismatic leader of the Candy Butchers, a band who had the good fortune to be named one of the top 10 "cool" New York City bands by Rolling Stone in 2002, Viola has matured into a thoughtful pop craftsman. This, his latest Candy Butchers CD, stands out among the three albums and two EPs he’s recorded as the leader of the band, thanks to its largely personal and autobiographical nature. In the hooky but not hoky title track, Viola offers a pledge of thanks from a home-studio’d musician to his mate who’s cooking dinner in the kitchen. Elsewhere, finely honed melody lines support confessional lyrics addressed to real-life loved ones, such as a spouse lost to cancer and an abused parent. The seasoned musical team he’s assembled (including Figgs/Gentleman guitarist Mike Gent, bassist Pete Donnelly, and Gravel Pit keyboardist Jed Parish) provide a firm foundation for the kind of edgy, guitar-driven power pop Viola was raised on.
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