Hang On Mike  (Audio CD) 
by Candy Butchers

Then the charm of the lyrics, about romantic wins and losses and masturbation and addiction and detox and mental and physical anguish and Kiss Alive 2 and Bennie & the Jets, poured sweetly through the infectious pop music, based in 70s pop piano style I in no way jones for.

But it works, here. This album actually changes my mood, my feelings, gives me hope about being a screw up, makes me love my friends more, makes me want to play it over and over again.

People constantly use the "Angry Young Man" school comparisons, a subgenre I adore but avoid of late due to the pretensions of its originators, but this album is in a class all by itself. It's not angry, it's reaching for grace and acceptance, but there had to be a whole lot of pain experienced to make music this lifting.

0 of 2 found the following review helpful:

Stuck In A Groove  Apr 27, 2004
Mike Viola has always been a favorite of mine. His Graham Parker-like voice is very warm. This warmth brings life into otherwise mundane material. The songs on Hang On Mike are all autobigraphical and dwell on his past, present and future as well as the relationships in his life. These themes are repeated over and over. He reminisces about his childhood (Kiss Alive II, Superkid), sulks about his stagnant music career (Hang On Mike, Unexpected Traffic) but still has hope (Let's Have A Baby, Not So Bad At All).

I think Mike should take a trip to some interesting places and then write some more interesting songs (a la Joe Jackson). Right now he seems stuck in a groove.

[DW]

3 of 4 found the following review helpful:

Hang On Listener  Apr 15, 2004
Mike Viola, the head butcher, is toying with our affections. This is, as far as we own, his 3rd album. We bought the first one simply because we fell in love with the band's name at first sight (it was Mike Viola and the Candy Butchers then). Unfortunately, we were less than luke warm towards the album. The next album, we bought, we liked, soon we liked a lot. The songs were simply much better and a couple ranked among our favorites of that entire year. Now, just when we were expecting to, like, love this new cd even more, Mike has left us feeling more than a touch ambivalent. There are some very good songs, to be sure, on Hang On Mike, the best of which are McCartney-flavored, acoustic ballads or pretty, mid-tempo rockers. But a few too many cuts (the, assumedly, self-referential ones especially) are simply a bit too trite, too strained, too cutesy, and too bubblegummy for our tastes and we've resorted to the fast-forward more than we'd prefer. We'll keep listening to this artist, though. He's got a terrific, rock & roll voice and, when he's on, he remains one of the few purveyors of fine, Beatlesque pop today. We wouldn't be surprised if, by his next album, we were going steady.