Viva Problems is a wistful album about being young and dumb. Five geeks
from
Richmond, Va decided to get together and form a brassy punk band and sing
about their
problems with young adulthood, mostly disappointment in love. I have to say
that, though the
album is simple in form and slightly grating, it's very straightforward.
The sound is an oversimplified cross between The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
and Green
Day. With a minimum of three chord changes per song, the music does not
leave much room
for variation. The brass section is quite entertaining, and the
vocalist has his
moments -- thats when he's not straining his voice.
"Drinking Gasoline," "Ham," "For You," and "If I Gave You the World," are
all about
women they fell in love with who left them cold. I guess they aren't meeting
the right girls. The
song, "If I Gave You the World" is a Spanish influenced love song about no
matter how hard he
tried, it just wasn't good enough. Mehta's voice becomes soft and tender and
blends nicely with
the music. " The Bitter Butter Battle" is funky! The saxophone and the
trombone add a touch of
classy brass! There's also a secret song on the album.
The only real problem I had with this one was the repetition of sound and
subject matter.
For five geeks out of Virginia, "Viva Problems" isn't bad. I just
thought the subject
matter was a bit simple. The vocals and the music are sharp and defined, making for some easy
listening. Not bad.
