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Jesse Malin
The Heat
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Patti Scialfa
23rd Street Lullaby
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Damn, Jesse Malin's new CD is good! The closest thing to a new Springsteen for the 21st Century? (And I mean that in all the good ways, even if you're not a Springsteen fan. I don't wanna pidgeon-hole Malin and slight his chances by this comparison...wouldn't be fair to him or you.) His New York street-cred is hangin' out all over the place on this slinky-sexy roots-rock tinged rock'n'roll street-serenade of a new disc. 'The Heat' is absolutely brilliant!
The ex-D Generation front-man and Ryan Adam's drinking buddy (I'm not sure, but it seems as though Malin is much more serious about his love for his art than the slippery-slope Adams of late, if Adams last three releases [or is it four?] are any indication) laments losses of time, people and chances on his new CD, 'The Heat'. And, no lie, the day I got this disc, I listened seven times straight through, non-stop, it is THAT good! I was dumb-struck and amazed, delighted and overwhelmed. There really is some GREAT music, albeit not alot, being released this year! I really liked Malin's first disc, 'The Fine Art of Self Destruction' (Ryan Adams produced - Malin produces himself on 'The Heat', and
Adams
is onboard as musician/backing vocalist, among numerous others), and this new one is a solid Brooklyn-side strike-in-the-tenth-frame winner. And at 51 minutes, if I can love it seven times on repeat, and many times since that first listen, it does not get, well, repetative.
From Track One, "Mona Lisa": "selling marijuana uptown to the prima-donnas/medicate the counter-culture/911 baby-boom", this is Dylan-quick stuck- together stream-of-consciousness lyric genius. Malin has a wonderfully unique way of turning a phrase...and it goes on and on like that. Simply amazing! The first track grabs your attention like an epiphany and from there on out, you're hooked. 'The Heat' is as melodic as heaven and as street-wise as hell. Damn, it's good...one of the year's best! Two highly recommendeds way up!!
And, talk about your street-cred! Patti Scialfa's new one, '23rd Street Lullabye', will take you to school on it! This rock'n'roll Jersey girl (and Springsteen's wife and fellow E-Streeter) has put together a batch of excellent songs about getting over it, holding on, and making it through. Her remarkable voice has a slight raspy edge to it, with a little "catch" that will steal your heart and a slow vibrato to die for. She knows just how to use it and work it to perfect effect. Absolutely rock'n'roll beautiful!
I loved her first release, 'Rumble Doll' (man, what a perfect title! and album, by the way - get it!), and still do. I was so looking forward to '23rd Street Lullabye'...probably my most anticipated release of 2004. Man, did Scialfa ever come through! Better than I could have imagined! Where 'Rumble Doll' is all Ronnie Spector-ish late 50s/early 60s influenced retro chic chick-rock, '23rd Street Lullabye' is more straight-ahead Jersey rock with a roots feel and as timeless as most anything hubby has done. (One thing that definitely needs clearing up: this is NOT one of those deals where, if she wasn't already hooked up, the album would never have been made, or noticed...THIS album could have come from a complete unknown, and still would deserve every bit of praise it gets.)
The textures and moods herein are palpable, creating Jersey-inflected rock'n'roll mindscapes with excellent lyrics and a very well-recorded instrumental pallette. Cut two, "You Can't Go Back", blatantly refers to Lou Reed's classic intro to his "Walk on the Wild Side" (and even has the "colored girls" go "da doo doo") perfectly, with a simple five note guitar figure that simply makes the song. "Hey, hey, yeah, yeah, can't go back" indeed! '23rd Street Lullabye' is another one on my list for Best of the Year! Two highly recommendeds way up, again!
With these two CDs, these two New York/New Jersey artists come on like a roaring nor'-easter, and there's just no stopping them! And who would want to!? Damn, it's good!! My list of Best-ofs for 2004 just grew by a whopping two. Buy 'em both - you can thank me later...
