|
|
JESSE MALIN
The Fine Art of Self Destruction
Artemis
After a hard-core youth, Jesse Malin surfaced in 1991 as the face of
New York Dolls-y rockers D Generation. They got buzz, they went
nowhere, they broke up, and now here comes the maturing Malin with a
Ryan Adams-produced solo debut. Malin has either acquired the
songwriting knack, or Adams has set him off--probably both. The
arrangements on The Fine Art of Self Destruction seem more
conventional than they are, so the music takes a while to sink in, but
soon Malin's Gothamized high-mountain whine makes you care about these
stories of bad childhoods, old girlfriends and disintegrating
bohemias. The local color is authentic fo' sheazy--not many
out-of-towners know about the Pathmark under the Manhattan Bridge--but
Malin has been on enough roads to reach girls (and guys) "out in
California writing spoken word." Emotionally, anyway--record sales
aren't his department.
Rolling Stone, Mar. 20, 2003
|
RSS