Review by LarryG
2½ stars out of 4
If you miss the unglamorous late 70's pub rock of people like
Joe Jackson and Graham Parker, you could do a lot worse than Mike
Viola and the Candy Butchers' Falling Into Place. Falling Into Place
is filled with straight ahead, unpretentious rock. It's not
particularly new or important, just a record of consistently fun
music. While not quite as inventive or varied, the Candy Butchers
merit comparison to Fountains of Wayne, who similarly clearly love
"new wave" music from the late 70's and early 80's and seemingly make
music for fun rather than in a calculated quest for stardom.
The songs don't have quite the same drive Graham Parker's great
band, the Rumour, gave Parker's best Squeezing Out Sparks era rock but
the resemblance, especially in the gritty, angry vocals, is quite
amazing. Except for superfluous horns, I Don't Know Anything, with its
tight guitar lines, rough vocals and staccato energy, could be a song
from Parker's Another Grey Area. All I Have, perhaps the best song on
Falling Into Place, is a great fast rocker that would segue well with
a classic Parker rocker like Nobody Hurts You. Its tale of being
vulnerable and totally dependent on his girl is goofily moving. All I
Have shifts through various sonic changes but the guitars and drums
keep the momentum going. Once it's done its job after two minutes, it
ends. Falling Into Place is remarkably consistent, filled with
likable, if fairly unambitious poppy rock songs. The horns work on
Fall Back Down, adding to a Southside Johnny type exuberant mood.
Break Your Heart is an infectious rocker with Viola carefully
deploying his compact guitar hooks. Viola is improbably upbeat singing
about a girlfriend who keeps her distance.The title song, with Viola
humorously playing a pessimist surprised as things go well, has a nice
light piano. The variety of the songs is bounded by Viola's vocal and
stylistic limitations but is still pretty broad. Killing Floor is a
fun, loose song. Let It Ride, at various times, resembles Buddy Holly
and Cheap Trick. Can't We Do Anything Right has a nice swirl of
strings and crisp guitar riffs. Mike Levesque's beat propels the song.
Viola doesn't make a fool of himself on the slow, string filled Give
Me Some Time. Ballads aren't his strength but his rough vocals have a
sweet openness. Stop When It Hurts basically has only a simple piano
to accompany Viola's vocals. The sad, simple music matches Viola's
empathic song about a woman who's made bad choices. The last ballad
Once I Was is nicely sincere though Viola's vocals are shaky on their
own until horns and keyboards(played by The Band's Garth Hudson) come
in and create an interesting circus atmosphere.
In general, Falling Into Place is a good time. Viola is a
good, unshowy guitar player. His songs are slight but well
constructed, hook filled pop.
|
