Tom Wise Reviews:

—Brian LaRue/New Haven Advocate
Tom Wise, In Love, At War (Skinny Pond/Sling Slang Records, slingslang.com). The arrangements on this full-length album are pinched right from contemporary pop-rock radio, with its jaunty rhythms, bright choruses and balance of strummy acoustic and affably chuggy electric guitars. But there’s something else here; something more singular, edgy, nervy. For one thing, the production is rawer and earthier than the squashed radio sound in vogue these days. But mostly, it’s in how Tom Wise builds and decorates the rooms within these recognizable structures. He writes lyrics in full sentences hardly taking a breath, and his songs brim with quick, surprising chord progressions. There’s an awful lot he wants to say. Most of it’s about girls. And, the thing is, most of the time it works. Wise rambles a bit, but he’s clever; he comes across as smart, but not pretentious (in spite of the fact he has a song called, yes, “It’s Not Just a Community Theatre; It’s a Dating Scene”). And he remembers to write solid melodies to go with his words. It’s worth a few cloying moments here and there to listen to a pop raconteur like this fully explain what’s on his mind. —Brian LaRue