BANDS:

Punk & Ska
80's New Wave/
Post-Punk/
College Bands
90's & Beyond
Virginia, North
Carolina, & DC

Wise: Sick World
[Echo Orange]

The fact that this album can't be recommended for fans of any specific genre might be a mixed blessing. Certainly music fans have free will and can buy whatever they wish to buy, but this album is definitely not going to be a first choice for a great deal of them.

First of all, this release tries to pass itself off as some sort of "Brooklyn-Inspired Rock" record, but the sound is clearly more of a Blues Traveler-meets-Santana or perhaps Beck-takes-L.S.D.-with-Jack Black. Songs such as "Nothing At All" and "Father Mine" are heartfelt cries against the inhumanity in this world, but they don't seem to have very much of a shelf-life, and this is the case with most of the ballads that are churned out day after day.

If one considers hooks to be crucial in making a hit song, upon listening to this album, its true that you find hooks. But what is missing is the substance that lies therein, thus rendering the song completely irrelevant.

The track-listing on the album reads like the sporadic shoutings of a Tourrette's sufferer: "Pepperoni Pizza, One of Those Times, Live to Die." This is the exact why Ritalin is prescribed to kids who can't focus, but unfortunately, there is no remedy for this in the music business. (By the way, "One of Those Times" simply sounds like Jon Bon Jovi when he was flirting with country-rock during his "Blaze of Glory" phase.) In short, Wise can keep pleasing kids in jam-band bars with Dave Matthews posters on the walls, but sadly enough for all the kids who wear socks with Birkenstocks, this type of album won't reach enough of them.

This album can be purchased at Amazon and CD Universe

Wise Official Website

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