"If the voice of Candy Butchers leader Mike Viola sounds familiar, that's probably because you've seen the 1996 Tom Hanks flick That Thing You Do!, for which Viola sang the title song. His own music isn't quite as shamelessly retro as that of the movie's fictional group the Wonders, but at times it's not far off, matching the sunny melodicism of Squeeze and Marshall Crenshaw with the sour lyrical attitude of early Elvis Costello and Graham Parker. Play With Your Head covers the power-pop angle splendidly, with occasional cute asides like the sitar riff on 'My Monkey Made A Man Out Of Me.' T... (+) expand

"If the voice of Candy Butchers leader Mike Viola sounds familiar, that's probably because you've seen the 1996 Tom Hanks flick That Thing You Do!, for which Viola sang the title song. His own music isn't quite as shamelessly retro as that of the movie's fictional group the Wonders, but at times it's not far off, matching the sunny melodicism of Squeeze and Marshall Crenshaw with the sour lyrical attitude of early Elvis Costello and Graham Parker. Play With Your Head covers the power-pop angle splendidly, with occasional cute asides like the sitar riff on 'My Monkey Made A Man Out Of Me.' The sound has gotten sparser and the lyrics seem more personal on Hang On Mike, but otherwise it's more of the same, and nothing's wrong with that. Two earlier, out-of-print Candy Butchers releases, Live At La Bonbonniere (1996) and Falling Into Place (1999) are worth the hunt if you like what's here."

Blurb about Mike, from the Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th Edition) (-) collapse