Mike Viola "Lurch"

powerpopaholic Top Ten of 2008 Candidate

Mike Viola returns with a vengence! “Lurch” was a limited run of 1000 copies that I promoted a few weeks ago. After that sold out, Mike’s looking for a bigger distribution deal. Let’s start right off saying that Mike is in a class with Fountains of Wayne, Jackdaw4, Roger Manning Jr. and the cream of the genre. Opening with a piano tribute to Vic Mizzy’s “Addams Family theme” it turns into a catchy mid-tempo love song to his “Girly Worm.” The next tune “All Bent out of Shape” is classic example of a Candy Butchers track, with great lyrical plot and melodic gold. My favorite song here is “The Strawberry Blonde,” an amazing melding of hooks and uplifting multi-tracked harmonies, including a very Wilsonesque “Um-bop-ditty” layered vocal. The ballads “Dangerously Close” and “Snowman in Tompkins Park” are poignant and heart felt. Not a single dud on this release. Even a quick little ditty about an old address (“279 East 10th Street”) shines like a Paul Simon classic. The quality of this release rivals anything this out year and is his best since the acclaimed “Hang on Mike.” In fact stop reading now and listen to the goodies below for a taste of the album.

Mike Viola.com | My Space

Listen to “So Much Better”

Here is an awesome link – nice clear footage of Adam Schlesinger and Mike Viola at the 2007 Tribeca ASCAP music lounge playing “That thing [they] do”.

The Lurch download was so popular, that Mike’s site had to be taken down for exceeding bandwidth. If you missed it. Please buy this album when it goes to full distribution.

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8 thoughts to “Mike Viola "Lurch"”

  1. I’ve been listening to this album since I got it at one of his Boston shows in October. I’ve since turned several people onto it!

    Does anyone know how/if/where I might be able to find the Candy Butchers debut album, AKA the “Blue Thumb Album”? I read about it on another blog site, but have been unable to find it.

  2. Ah.. I feel a little better since I got it from Soulseek, then, heh. At first I was hesitant of it, because I wasn’t too impressed with Just Before Dark, but this exceeded expectations.

    That said, I’m definitely buying it when it gets full distribution. The man needs all the recognition he can get. (If only we could get him onto vh1’s You Oughta Know, or something.)

  4. Hey, since Mike wants the fans to share and rip the album, can someone put up a link so those of us that missed out can hear this wonderful album?

  5. I bought the album. I’m glad more people will hear it now. Even if I downloaded it here, I would still end up buying it because it is that good.

  6. I bought this album from Mike’s site…it is fantastic…I am glad he is allowing you to share. This is already one of my top albums of the past 10 years…I cannot get enough of it.

  7. I agree, this is a great album. Thanks for the free offer. I hope he gets someone to distribute it to a larger audience. here’s hoping. J

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