Glitter in the Gutter - Jesse Malin Album Review

Jesse Malin

Album Review

I've seen Jesse Malin perform live twice in my life. Each time it has been just him (yep, despite the ambiguous name Malin is male, as if the Springsteen style croon didn't give it away) on acoustic guitar and a woman on piano. The reason this fact is significant (other than bonus alternative music kudos points for me) is that a great deal of his latest record, Glitter in the Gutter, would be unsuitable for this kind of intimate acoustic performance which is, to the best of my knowledge, average for a gig of his.

In fact, Malin's transformation from acoustic Americana to electric guitar rock has taken me rather by surprise, but with reference to his first two albums I can demonstrate that it is real. His first album, The Fine Art of Self Destruction had two songs which might make someone deprived of guitar music and living on a desert island reach for the air guitar. His second had four or five tracks that would make hardened rockers tap their feet on something with a semblance of a beat, but here - his third effort, the vast majority of the songs are rocky. I would include pie charts and graphs and all kinds of other learning devices to demonstrate this point, but I fear that would be overstepping my editorial brief. You'll have to take my word for it, but Glitter in the Gutter contains nearly 40% more rock than his previous efforts. It's a pity the album has been out for some weeks now, as that's a quote they could put on the cover.

They may want to edit out the next line however: unfortunately, it's pretty generic for the most part. There's nothing wholly original here, and while the tunes are good there's nothing enormously original here. There are a few quiet moments (including the infectiously touching broken radio which sees Malin dueting with Bruce Springsteen himself in a round of aural spot the difference) but these are generally forced out of the picture by the louder rocking numbers.

And there's nothing intrinsically wrong with the rocking numbers either, I hasten to add. They're infectious and fun - especially In the modern world which will probably make a fine single, and Happy Ever After, which is actually a reworking of Since You're In Love off his last album. But overall, as much as I have gotten into the album in a big way, if you're at the stage where you're saying that a reworking of a 3 year old song is one of the stand-out tracks, then you're probably best seeking out the source of that original work of beauty.

And that's exactly what I'm going to do now.

Alan Martin