{"id":624,"date":"2011-10-18T05:06:25","date_gmt":"2011-10-18T10:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=624"},"modified":"2026-09-15T16:51:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T20:51:17","slug":"album-review-mike-viola-electro-de-perfecto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2011\/10\/18\/album-review-mike-viola-electro-de-perfecto\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Mike Viola- Electro de Perfecto"},"content":{"rendered":"

He probably gets tired of the reference, but most people know Mike Viola<\/strong>\u2019s raspy-yet-expressive voice from the theme song to That Thing You Do!<\/em> Before and since, Viola has had a career of his own, the sort that flies beneath the commercial radar but garners rave reviews from those in the know. Especially if said in-the-know types dig music of the powerpop persuasion.<\/p>\n

Viola\u2019s band The Candy Butchers<\/strong> released an EP and some albums in the 90s but never got the sort of notice that peers like Fountains of Wayne<\/strong> enjoyed. That\u2019s a shame, since those discs are littered with fine, winning, catchy songs that display a wide range of emotion and style.<\/p>\n

Viola\u2019s latest is called Electro de Perfecto<\/em>, and while the sonic hallmarks — clear, upfront and intimate production, hooky arrangements, sold songwriting and clever\/thought-provoking lyrics \u2013 remain intact, there\u2019s a very strong undercurrent of pathos and regret throughout the disc. In this context, even a yearning romantic rocker like \u201cGet You Back\u201d is delivered with a tinge of sadness, as if to suggest that, well, maybe the protagonist won\u2019t get the girl back in the end.<\/p>\n

The title track even includes the lyric, \u201cThis is a cry for help,\u201d and even a casual listen reveals an unsettling vibe to the songs, as if there\u2019s something wrong, something that\u2019s perhaps a bit serious. It\u2019s made explicit in songs like \u201cMe and My Drinking,\u201d and despite its title, loneliness and sadness pervade \u201cSoundtrack of My Summer.\u201d And what to make of lyrics like \u201cStuck my fingers down my throat to start my day\u201d and \u201cI got no Plan B\u201d?<\/p>\n

The mood is leavened and lightened, certainly, on semi-jokey numbers such as \u201cFields of Guns\u2019n\u2019Roses,\u201d but even on that track there\u2019s mention of Hotel Chelsea suicides and such. The energy is dialed down for the album-ender, a track called \u201cWhen the Stars Are Against You.\u201d The listener is left with the inescapable impression that the title sums up Viola\u2019s current life situation. Who knows: maybe not. Maybe Electro de Perfecto<\/em> is a concept album.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re the sort who insists upon sunny, upbeat lyrics to go with your power-chording powerpop, best avoid Electro de Perfecto<\/em>. But if you\u2019re up for an album that \u2013 edgily so \u2013 combines an uptempo musical vibe with some edge-of-worrisome lyrical content, then you may find this boundary-pushing album a rewarding experience. I did.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He probably gets tired of the reference, but most people know Mike Viola\u2019s raspy-yet-expressive voice from the theme song to That Thing You Do! Before and since, Viola has had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-review","cat-65-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32429,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624\/revisions\/32429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}