If you’re a fan of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll, there’s no doubt that at least something in Jesse Malin’s career has resonated with you. From his early days fronting the glam-punk band D Generation, to the short-lived project with Ryan Adams titled The Finger, or his most recent solo work, Malin has put out consistently great music across several decades. For me, it was his 2010 release Love It To Life, <\/i>which was a criminally overlooked album that mixed anthemic rock with softer, romantic moments, and Malin’s strong, mature lyrics. <\/p>\n
With that said, seeing as Love It To Life <\/i>is about as good as it gets in my book, in the same league as Goo Goo Dolls\u2019 Superstar Carwash<\/i> or Tim <\/i>from The Replacements, <\/i>this new album from Malin had its work cut out for itself. <\/p>\n
\u201cOutsiders\u201d leads the album off with emphasis on percussion and a breezier atmosphere. With a big chunk of the singing being la-la-la-las, it’s definitely a far cry from the charged bar rock of Malin’s earlier work. \u201cSan Francisco\u201d follows and remains subdued, with a subtle groove that stays on the soft side and violins to boot. By the third track, \u201cSame Old Situation,\u201d the pace picks up and the garage rock influence comes through with wailing guitar solos and Malin’s rugged yet melodic singing. <\/p>\n
Near the middle, \u201cSociety Sally\u201d adds some blues influences and horns, \u201cEdward Hopper\u201d leaves us with an island flavor complemented by tambourines, and \u201cWhitestone City Limits\u201d brings us some The Hold Steady-style piano rock. The campfire-esque version of The Clash’s \u201cStay Free\u201d is an album highlight, illuminating Malin’s underrated vocals and his ability to play hushed songs as well.<\/p>\n
The last few tracks offer more surprises as well, with the saxophone heavy \u201cThe Hustlers\u201d and album closer, the six-minute country rock of \u201cYou Know It’s Dark When Atheists Start To Play.\u201d Sandwiched between them is another album highlight, the poetic, warm love song to New York \u201cIn The Summer.\u201d<\/p>\n
While only a little of this reminds me of The Replacements, (early) Goo Goo Dolls, or the work from Malin I adore so much, it’s still a great album of diverse sounds from a raspy, gritty angle. Seeing as Malin is as prolific now as he has ever been (this was his second album in 2015), I’m eager to see what he does next.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":32706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[9812],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-44476","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-jesse-malin","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44476"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=44476"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=44476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}