Making Up Time

Chronique

"Candy Butchers are Mike Viola and Todd Foulsham," reads a legend on the inside of this archival release from Viola's Good Morning Monkey Records label, which is surprising only in that "Candy Butchers" is usually thought of as Viola's group pseudonym. But early on, in a period covered by these recordings, made between November 1994 and February 1998, the name did apply to the duo of Viola and Foulsham, who seems to be singing harmony vocals and playing a snare drum to accompany Viola's lead vocal and acoustic guitar. The two worked their way up from being New York street buskers to a club act in those days, and these previously unreleased tracks reveal Viola's pop intentions, even in primitive form. He already has a sense of irony in his lyrics and a gift for catchy tunes, and on the somewhat more produced tracks (such as "Come on Girl," from 1998), he displays his love of the Beatles. His grainy voice keeps the music from being too poppish, but his aspirations are apparent on these ten modest tracks in less than half an hour.
© William Ruhlmann /TiVo