Scroll down for reviews of the latest from Owsley, The Shut Ups and Field Trip

Candy Butchers
Hang On Mike

(RPM Records)

Release Date: January 20, 2004
www.candybutchers.com

Mike Viola hasn't had an easy time of it. Having played in bands since the age of 13, he's long been sold on the rock star dream of "sex, drugs and rock n' roll." This record is about Viola's release of that dream/delusion -- his breakthrough, if you will, to embrace reality.

Hang On Mike is audio therapy for Mr. Viola, giving voice to much that has plagued him over the years, personal crises worked out through song, you might say, discussing himself in the third person. In the hands of a lesser craftsman, such an undertaking might prove weird, strange or just an ill-guided mess. In the hands of Viola, his melodic skills and dark wit, it becomes a gem of intimacy and sweet aplomb, never too heavy-handed and infectious as anything.

These dozen special songs wear well, growing on you and bringing good feelings like a great big musical hug. This music is deliciously personal, a man unafraid to bare the ugly along with the beautiful, and while not overtly commercial in any sense, I'm sure it will fast become a favorite of many. It's already one of mine.

Leading off is "What To Do With Michael," the story of Mike and his ladylove, their storybook meeting in Paris in the mid-1990s and eventual reunion in New York, and how she was capable of changing his life: "She knows what to do with Michael / she knows how to make him feel that he's the one, he's his mother's son, not like anyone, he just needs time to heal."

The first single is the pleasant mid-tempo "Nice To Know You." This well-arranged and pretty number is about the vagaries of love, especially when you've met someone who is everything you'll ever need.

The somber and poignant "Unexpected Traffic" is all about the exhaustion of touring, the difficulty and illusion of being free: "The trouble comes on in a flood of fear like unexpected traffic, where even a smile of strength appears unexpectedly tragic." As usual, Viola's guitar tones are crisp, clean and open enough to allow his vocals space to be up front and direct.

One aspect of this album is a reunion of sorts between Mike and his childhood friend, one-time Candy Butcher drummer Todd Foulsham (who played with Mike on the 1996 EP Live at La Bonbonniere). Their long relationship is explored in the song "Kiss Alive II," a celebration of their friendship that has remained strong after so many years and some pleasant memories: "I gave you Benny & The Jets, you gave me Kiss Alive II."

The title track is a wonderful centerpiece, a message from Mike to Mike, reminding him to keep the creative dream alive: "Hang on Mike, if there's one thing you're good for it's holding on / Hang on Mike, if there's one thing you're good for it's another song / Hang on Mike if there's one thing I'm hoping for / that you'll be happy or die artistic from self-expression in a wave of delivering it / though you're unhappy, I still feel so lucky / hang on." As another lucky and often unhappy one still pursuing the big dream, these words of advice are inspirational. Hanging on becomes half the battle won.

Perhaps the most nakedly autobiographical piece here is the quiet ballad "Painkillers," in which Mike comes to grips with memories of the death (from cancer) of his first wife, and how his current wife Audrey helps him through it. If you aren't touched by this one, you must be made of stone: "To wake up with Kim again, she's as beautiful as I remember, spying on me through her long brown hair and walking beside me without a wheelchair / somehow I think she returns to show there's nothing to fear anymore but I cannot sleep because I'm worried about her, the painkillers clouded the angels around her / there are times that I barely get by, well I hope that you understand / there are times all I can do is cry, well I hope that you understand."

A close second place in the "let's reveal all" category is the lovely song "Charlie," which Mike wrote about his mother's early years as an abused child caught up in the horrible foster care system (yet that's not immediately evident in the lyrics): "Charlie close your weary eyes, try to sing yourself to sleep, in a field of rusted wire the wind plays harmony / Charlie lay your burden down as the snow begins to thaw, everything will be revealed right in your own backyard."

Growing up in Stoughton, Massachusetts, Viola was something of a teen rock star prodigy, full of promise and firmly in the limelight at age 13. But has he lived up to the promise of those early days? Mike delves into that issue in "Superkid," a combination of memories from those times and a realization that the super child now is just as old as you or me and perhaps not so super anymore. This bittersweet lyric puts it succinctly: "Nothing can fool you like a dream."

"Not So Bad At All" sings the praises of good friends and their company as a means to get through what ails you. Everybody laughs and everybody cries, and second chances happen easily - no, not bad at all.

One of the lighter tracks here is "Let's Have A Baby," in which fears about being too old, not enough space, not ready yet, etc. are allayed by a true desire to have the child ("Sadie, Chloe, Sammy or Maximillian").

These are songs that will remain with you long after you listen to them and one of the most infectious is "Sparkle!" Viola is great at hiding darker content inside a bouncy light melody. Here we are lead from a showtune-type opening to a rollicking disco bassline and one masterful falsetto hook, all in the service of a song about wanting someone to pull through after some sort of detox hospitalization stay (or was it from a breakdown, hard to call). The sentiments are heartfelt and direct: "We love you and we care about you, but we need you to tell us the truth, 'cause we want you to really pull through this time -- Get your head in the mix, take your medicine on time / get your head in the mix, you're gonna feel better in no time at all."

The CD ends with a song that manages to sum it all up, this letting go of his rock and roll dreams, via the Beatle-esque anthem "Hunker Down." He is coming to grips with the fact that the external trappings of success are not what it's all about - but that you should save your energy for your art: "Hunker Down, you will be on the mic again / there will be times of laughter, but you won't hear a thing / Hunker Down, you will be on the list again, there will be tons of people, but you won't see a thing."

I commend Mike Viola for having the courage (and talent) to set many of his private emotional lodestones to music and put them down on a disc. This from a man who compares his career to something he saw once on the old TV show "Real People," some guy who decided to build a highway in his backyard and at age 90, had only completed one mile. "Me and my buddies are just building my highway," he says, "and when people see it they're in awe of the dedication and the tenacity. It's a highway, but I'm not sure where it's headed."

If *Hang On Mike* is any indication, it's headed in the right direction. Mike and his Candy Butcher helpers (Todd Foulsham, Pete Donnelly, Mike "Beans" Benigno, Mike Gent and Jed Parish) have assembled the best therapy session on record, with songs that will charm and win you over. As usual, the production is superb with just the right musical choices and arrangements.

Diehard Viola fans will adore this CD, but even newcomers should take notice. While not overtly commercial, it's certainly catchy enough and has potential for widespread appeal. Viola knows his life has been "a trial by fire" to date, but thanks to his ongoing talents we're now able to share in the feelings behind the scenes and even sing along with them. Get Hang On Mike: it's cathartic for him, melodic for you. Now how cool is that?

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Owsley
The Hard Way

(Lakeview Entertainment)

Release Date: December 2, 2003

www.owsleymusic.com


It's been a long time waiting for Owsley's second act, but finally one has arrived. Ten new tracks (plus one hidden bonus) for those of us who've eagerly been waiting for what seems just shy of forever. The Hard Way is a good solid album, track after track of polished pop music, the majority of which treads within contemporary radio's safe boundaries. Still, this effort seems somehow less than the stellar follow-through many expected of Owsley.

Owsley's critically acclaimed and Grammy-nominated eponymous debut was released in March of 1999. The progression of events and the toll taken from experiences produces change, whether we're looking at the world or the career track of a pop singer/songwriter. Things are different heading into 2004, and those expecting a seamless flow from that first record to The Hard Way are begging for disappointment.

Getting a second release out was a bit of a struggle, complete with legal quagmires and record label hi-jinx. Given the state of the music industry, this isn't unique or even that unusual. Those details are unimportant. The bottom line is this: Will Owsley is older, his musical choices and collaborators diverge some from what has gone before and the new release reflects this change.

Don't get me wrong -- this is a good album. Fine musicianship well executed and catchy tunes to the hilt. Yet why does it seem less satisfying than expected?

One could present the argument as posited by Elvis Costello - that you have decades to produce your first album, and considerably less time to produce the second. And that might be true to a certain extent.

When his band time with the likes of talents such as Ben Folds and Millard Powers (in The Semantics) turned sour, Owsley took his time (years, in fact) to assemble that delightful debut in a manner consistent with his musical vision. Playing guitar in Amy Grant's touring band allowed him the financial means to assemble a home studio.

That first release was a gem, ten well-crafted songs that mixed melodic know-how with infectious fun. But corporate mergers did in the record company - Giant was shuttered within a year of the initial release. This time around Owsley decided to go out on his own, but not before almost giving up on a musical career altogether. Rumored to have three or four albums' worth of new material ready to go, a few record deals fell through, nearly frustrating the man into early retirement.

Thankfully, he stuck it out and decided to release The Hard Way. Owsley serves up another ten tracks largely written, performed and produced by the man himself. The hidden track (a truly accomplished cover of McCartney's difficult "Band On The Run") is further testament to the man's abilities.

The Hard Way does offer fine power-pop craft, but it suffers from comparison to the debut. Largely gone is the element of light fun, perhaps a reflection of the times and/or the tough career experiences betwixt and between. In addition, Owsley seems to be going more for that "safe" commercial sound, as though inviting a chance at radio play and a wider audience (which is fine, but likely will incur the wrath of those who loved the adventurous twists and turns found on the first ten-pack).

The CD opens with the first single "Be With You," a catchy little ditty that trades on clever lyrical syncopation ("I want to show you / the rhythm and the roll / and take you into / the center of my soul / I wanna run through the fields of your imagination"), a full guitar sound and a steady snare. This radio-ready collaboration with Keith Thomas and Dillon O'Brian truly sounds like a musical cousin of Jakob Dylan and The Wallflowers' "One Headlight."

"Rise" also has a Wallflowers feel to it (again, co-written by songwriter Dillon O'Brian) and sports what sounds like a very full production wash of sound. This call to a general awakening has clever turns of phrase: "Somehow you crumbled under pressure / the pain of your pleasures has taken you way down / but now it's time to lay down your broken mind and rise."

The song that completes the "Wallflower"-sound trilogy is the title track, only this one was co-authored by singer/songwriter James Michael and Simon Petty of Minibar. "The Hard Way" has sort of an alt-county feel to its take on the grittiness of Las Vegas hard life: " Time don't exist in here / I'm counting out the hours by every beer that comes around / I'm breathing in the oxygen / The call girls and the slot machines / And the roulette spinnin' round / 'Cause I can never hold I just go on until I fold until I'm battered broke and bruised."

"She's The One" and "Rainy Day People" re-unite Owsley with an old songwriting partner, Trevor Morgan (the same team responsible for three of the debut's tracks). "She's The One" is a great anthemic rock song awash in organ accompaniment (Jonathon Hamby), all about setting past mistakes right: "When I wake up in the morning and I head on down the road / I regret the feelings that I never showed / And every time I try to think of reasons why to walk away / I can only find a reason not to run / She's the one."

"Rainy Day People" is one track that honestly sounds as if it could fit comfortably on the debut. This slower song allows Owsley a chance to show off his guitar licks.

Two other songs here are co-written with country session guitarist/songwriter Gordon Kennedy. "Dude" is about the outrage of a rude heartbreak from the fairytale girl that promised otherwise. "Undone" is more of a classic Owsley love song (and might have been my choice for single and lead tune) and features Gordon Kennedy on guitar and background vocals.

The three songs that Will Owsley has written alone all are powerful and well-done.

"Dirty Bird" poignantly skews the party life, sex and drugs that oft accompany the rock and roll life.

What goes around comes around in "Down," another outstanding track here: "I saw you in the reflection of the rearview / Doting away just like we used to / With someone I'd never seen before / You're breakin' / The heart that you stirred has now been shakin' / Identity never is mistaken /When karma comes knocking at the door."

This segues into the piano strains of "Matriarch," a pretty musical elegy for one now gone, the Joan of Arc of the family (actually one Alys O. Boozer, to whom this album is dedicated).

Chris McHugh does a great job of handling drums and percussion on all the songs; while bass duties are split amongst Michael Rhodes, Tom Bukovac, Jimmie Lee Sloas, Millard Powers or Owsley. All told, the tracks were recorded in a host of places in Tennessee with a number of different engineers.

A Hard Way is an accomplished sophomore effort, and while it doesn't take many musical risks, it's strong and solid throughout. For anyone else, this album would be a major achievement. However, for Will Owsley, who has set the bar so ridiculously high following his superb debut, it merely leaves you wanting more.

Personally, I hope this fine effort does well and brings Owsley a wider following. Maybe then he will feel free enough to return to having fun with his music, an element that could elevate good sounds to something utterly superb.

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The Shut-Ups
It Hurts To Be Seen

(Imperial Fuzz)

Release Date: June 10, 2003

www.shutups.com

When Don Condescending (the alter ego of Atlanta native Christopher Snell) speaks, it's usually in the perfect pop vernacular of the new wave circa 1982 and most likely it has to do with an issue of early adolescence. Condescending is the creative force behind The Shut-Ups, and with a backing quartet at the ready, he has launched a fully formed second album.

There are a lot of possible musical reference points here, as Snell really has done his homework. He knows how to craft catchy music with a comedic edge, something akin to what the group Blotto did ages ago (only more sophisticated). There's also a bit of Devo, Talking Heads, the irreverence of They Might Be Giants and Jonathan Richman as well as a healthy dose of almost any new age group of the early 1980s in the sound, while Condescending admits to admiring the work of the Mael brothers (Sparks) and The Kinks, among others.

The other Shut-Ups are Ben Spraker on guitar and vocals (he's also a member of Ceiling Fan), record label owner Steve Libbey on more guitar, Thaddeus Thompson on bass and Darkis Knight on drums and percussion.

The opening track "Various People" is infectious as ever in its exploration of culture clashes between a simple guy (Velveeta Cheese, Garth Brooks) and his desired complex creature Jane (Derrida, The Cure, various important good causes) who wears black. Luckily, they share the common bond of pimples - can love follow?

The dilemma of a trucker turned nightclub dancer is the realm of "What's a Booty?" Seems the man is somewhat perplexed by the term, though he knows "it mends the broken heart / It heals the soul and it makes you smart / It sates the urge for something greater than yourself."

The softer strains of the catchy music are as subtle as the normal guy narrator's hidden secret in "Day-Glo Underwear." Snell and bandmates do a fine job with little musical nuances and harmonies that hook you in.

Less successful, but no less fun, is the raw "Teenage Man," expressing the know-all hubris that accompanies those years. "Baby" is a cute little ditty that explores sibling rivalry from the stance of toddler to new arrival, vying for their mother's affections.

"Don't Know Why" examines the age-old mystery as to why the desired one seems to prefer the clueless brawny guy over our well-informed devoted reason-toting brainy guy.

Lyle Bufkin guests on bass here, and Darkis Knight does a nice job with the percussion on this pretty ode. A similar stance (regular guy versus libertines, scowling punks and others) permeates the song "Permission."

More often than not, the songs are told from the viewpoint of a lonely, frustrated young boy. One on the brink of alleged suicide bemoans the unfair world and, most specifically, the horrible boy bands that girls love in "Stupid Sissy Boys." This song serves up some Beach Boys, as well as some Brit-pop references. Another young and lonely is miffed by his situation and ready to give up on love and more in the poignant title track "It Hurts To Be Seen."

Kids can be cruel, and this is made apparent in "Sneed," a tale of one asked by a teacher to look after the troubled outcast - the horribly meek and useless Sneed. He is put-upon and tries to exact his revenge in a very "Uncle Ernie-ish" fashion: "I like to play with him / Make him hurt himself a lot / Steal his Oreos / tie him in a little knot."

Snell skewers Herman's Hermits' "Henry The Eighth" and similar Brit-pop ilk in his charmingly light "Edgar the Nothing (I Am)." This fake-accented failure of a royal figure tries to reign over a subway train, and revels in his nothingness.

It's a mid-life crisis at work for the salesman singer of "Too Late For Disco." Living as a "man without a God," he realizes disco is never coming back and listens for the nostalgic "ghost of '79," back when he was good-looking and fun. Ouch.

It's a thin line between amusement and annoyance, and one listener's pain might prove another's pleasure. The Shut-Ups can cross that line at times, but overall this is an enjoyably delightful musical romp, well-produced by Snell with help from Jason NeSmith (who lends an instrumental hand as well).

If you liked the new wave music of the early 1980s and have a sense of humor, you can't go wrong here. It Hurts To Be Seen is easily heard, often witty and occasionally sincere. Condescending (Snell) and The Shut-Ups are quirky and fun, with a fine melodic sense of what makes songs stick in your head. In other words, you don't have to be a young, lonely adolescent geeky nerd to identify with and enjoy the songs here.

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Field Trip
Field Trip

(Stargazer Music)

Release Date: December 24, 2003

www.notlame.com

After many live shows had audiences clamoring for some product, Field Trip finally has released a debut 4-song EP of melodic power pop. Cord Weiss is the creative force behind Field Trip. The former member of Atlanta's Star Collector has written these songs, sings lead and background vocals and handles guitars and percussion.

Produced and engineered by Ron Haney and Bart Schoudel of The Churchills, these four songs pack quite a bit of sonic fun, with plenty of guitar-driven jangle, harmonies galore and rhythmic punch.

"Into You" is about that kind of strong love that obsessively takes over one's everything: "I really didn't want to find somebody new / I tried to hide behind another lame excuse / I didn't want to go / Until I laid it down and gave it all to you." Lush strong harmonies rule the day here, as befits a pretty love song.

The flip side of happy love follows with "Coulda Been," a post punk reaction to having been hurt in a bad relationship: "My head is hanging down / it feels like I haven't felt good in days / I know you never cared / I know you were just scared / And now that it's too late, it's alright / You're just a coulda been."

In "Glitter," we learn about concerns going into a relationship, seeking that delicate balance of communication and allowing for each other's needs: "If I could turn the world and take it in my hand / I would break the hourglass and give you all the sand / I'm gonna do my best / Will you do the same?"

Closing this quartet of songs is the audience pleaser "Angelina Jolie," a celebration of the pillow-lipped tomb raider of the big screen. Asking her to be his girlfriend, Mr. Weiss wants to know what she saw in that Billy-Bob anyway: "With big lips and big tattoos / you're all attitude / You're graced with everything that's holy / I'm waiting for you, Angelina Jolie." The rocking guitar and harmonies recall a Fountains of Wayne sound.

These four fun and sweetly rocking Field Trip songs are a powerful teaser for things to come. Let's hope the year ahead brings us a full-length release from this up and coming NYC band that promises never to take themselves too seriously.

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