Glitter In The Gutter

Performer: Jesse Malin
Artist: Bruce Springsteen; Jakob Dylan; Ryan Adams
Engineer: Paul Orofino; Matt Azzarto; Chris Fasulo; Eddie Wohl; Rob Caggiano; Paul Orofino; Matt Azzarto; Chris Fasulo
Producer: Diane Gentile; Eddie Wohl; Rob Caggiano; Diane Gentile; Eddie Wohl; Rob Caggiano
Distributor: Alternative Dis. Alliance

Notes: This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. Personnel: Jesse Malin (vocals, guitar); Jesse Malin (guitars); Ryan Adams (guitar, guitars, piano, organ, keyboards, background vocals); Rob Caggiano (guitar, guitars, programming); Justin Lomery (guitar, guitars); Paul David Hager (guitar, percussion); Lizzy Lee Vincent (guitar); Helen Yee (violin, cello); Steven Berson (cello); Rob Clores (piano); Sam Yaffa, Chris Chaney (bass instrument); Danny Sage (background vocals); Jakob Dylan (vocals, background vocals); Bruce Springsteen (vocals); Chris Shiflett, Josh Homme, Jamie Arentzen (guitar); Chris Jenkins (viola); Chris George (cello); Christine Smith (piano, keyboards, percussion, background vocals); Eddie Wohl (keyboards); Paul Garisto (drums, percussion); Johnny T. (percussion); Danny De La Matyre (background vocals). Audio Mixers: Jesse Malin; Rob Caggiano; Dror Mohr; Paul David Hager. Liner Note Author: Jesse Malin. Recording information: Defiant Recording Studios, New York, NY; Dror Nohr, New York, NY; East Coast Recording, Oyster Bay, NY; Electric Lady Recording Studio, New York, NY; Electric Lady, New York, NY; Michael Tudor Defiant Recording Studios, New York, NY; Millbrook Sound Studios, Millbrook, NY; Monster Island Studios, New York, NY; Think Tank Recording Studio, Hoboken, NJ; Think Tank Studios, Hoboken, NJ; Velvet Buddha Studios, Burbank, CA. Editor: Chris Fasulo. Photographers: Hanna Toresson; Paul Storey. Over a decade into his square-peg catalog, Malin finally made the record he always intended to make. GLITTER IN THE GUTTER succeeds at every turn because it sounds like--of all things--a New Jersey record. GLITTER IN THE GUTTER features the catchy, emotional dramatics that every Garden Stater from the Boss--who makes a fine duet partner with Malin on "Broken Radio"--to Bon Jovi has made his stock in trade. "Prisoners of Paradise" is a Springsteenian paean to "building it up and tearing it down" and "doing it all my life" that explodes into a soaring chorus, while "NY Nights" finds the narrator "on the run from heaven's hand me downs." The record's few and minor missteps are when Malin juxtaposes his own talents with those of legendary songwriters such as Paul Westerberg--represented by an unnecessary cover of "Bastards of Young"--and Lucinda Williams--here referenced with the innocuous but clunky "Lucinda." Ultimately, though, GLITTER IN THE GUTTER is a tour de force for a songwriter with equal parts grit and glam, placing him somewhere between the Boss and Bon Jovi on the Jersey greatness meter. No small feat that. It took three albums, but Jesse Malin's finally made it. What does that mean? It means that he's finally assembled the record he's been trying to put together since his debut (which was a good record). Glitter in the Gutter is a fully realized collection of solidly crafted pop/rock songs that are as lyrically substantive and poetic as the music that goes with them. Produced by Rob Caggiano and Eddie Wohl for Adeline Records, Malin is the epitome of the street rocker with a poet's heart. Rolling in California, for the first time on a record -- and for the first time above 14th Street in New York City -- Malin recruited old pal Ryan Adams to play guitar on a couple of cuts, Jakob Dylan to sing a backing vocal, and some guy named Bruce Springsteen to help him sing a duet on killer little ballad called "Broken Radio" complete with strings. This cut is the proof, though the record is filled with it, that Malin has become one of those fine rock & roll storytellers who has equal parts melodrama, hedonism, poetry, swagger and timing. The story of a former lover, someone hidden from the view of the protagonist, as Adams' guitars entwine with a piano and strings and ambient sounds, the tempo is slow and Malin's croon sounds like a man on the fire escape reminiscing to the night sky: "She used to talk about astrology/She was born in June/She danced with strangers and celebrities/Empty stars and full moon/I was thinking about the universe/For what it's worth/Or the one about the phoenix bird/That died and then returned." He jumps right back with the wild rocker "Prisoners of Paradise" and evokes all the desperation of the bleary-eyed romantics in the young Springsteen with the soul of Willy DeVille and the savvy wisdom of Elliott Murphy and is louder and prouder than all three. "Black Haired Girl" is another city story, it's all blazing guitars and sweet melodies. There's a wild vulnerability in the singer though he's trying hard to be in control. "Lucinda," well, we know who that one's about. There are a few songs on her album West about Malin, too. But Malin doesn't have to wait until the middle of the record to shine. He does it from the first cut, when he leaves the country-ish tinge present on his earlier records for good. The ringing guitars on "Don't Let Them Take You Down" become a lone acoustic that gives way to a cracking snare and big ringing electrics courtesy of Lizzy Lee Vincent and Justin Lomery: "We were born in flames, maiden names/Suburban homes, make your bones/Bite your lip, take the fifth...And it's my generation and the whole world is breakin my heart." He goes out of it roaring with all the romance rock & roll can promise when it splits reality in two: "Don't let them take you down/It's a beautiful day/Don't let them mess you around." Coming up in the '80s through the hardcore punk scene, Malin's proving that he's matured but that he believes, though he's got no illusions about what's happening all around him. Speaking of the '80s, Malin's got the cojones to cover Paul Westerberg's mighty anthem "Bastards of Young" and turn it into a piano-laden ballad that gives way to screeing feedback guitars that line the background. It's brave but it's a misstep, because with his presence, he might have pulled it off with all the raging six-string power the song is due. It's a minor complaint, perhaps, because that song should never be covered. He shoots right back with a mid-tempo power ballad by updating Heat's "Since You're in Love" with "Happy Ever After (Since You're in Love 2007)." The dramatics are more weatherbeaten this time out, the wish is more a confession of self-doubt and brokenness, but it's tight. "New York Nights" is a fire-escape love song with an acoustic guitar that gives way to the roar of the noise of the singer's heart with a hook nearly worthy of Doc Pomus without the retro vibe. "Aftermath" is pure Malin cine-song. There's a movie in here somewhere, but it's everywhere, falling out of the changes and dripping from the words like blood from a freshly opened vein. He evokes images of rock's greatest moments in a weary urban tragedy that's not willing to throw in the towel just yet. Adams provides gorgeous backing vocals and some keen organ work, too. Glitter in the Gutter is aptly named, because Malin's not posing. There's irony in the reveries and hope in the dustbin. Like Samuel Beckett, he's holding out for the glimmer, even when it's covered over by busted hearts, lost souls, and night roamers who cannot bear to see the sun come up because all the flaws will be laid bare. It's a fine look at what's left of rock & roll's promise: plenty, it seems, and shows the tatters in the seams of the younger generation's American Dream. Malin may not be Bob Dylan or Springsteen, but he doesn't need to be; that was a different time, and he's right on schedule for his own. ~ Thom Jurek

Rolling Stone (p.81) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "There are memorable, megatuneful adrenaline shots like 'Prisoners of Paradise'..." Entertainment Weekly (p.60) - "This is an old-fashioned roots-rock CD, with big choruses, blasts of heavy guitar, and lyrics about beautiful girls and beautiful losers." -- Grade: B+ Q (p.114) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[H]e's even secured voice-of-the-working-man Bruce Springsteen to provide vocals on the mournful 'Broken Radio'....Malin's capable of hitting an authentic nerve." Uncut (p.98) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Malin's at his best when unaffected, allowing the roaring 'Prisoners Of Paradise' and weary 'Aftermath' to provide salvation of sorts." Alternative Press (p.190) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] fine-tuned assortment of melodic, punk-tinged, mid-paced numbers....His best release ever." No Depression (p.79) - "American rock may be fractured, but its images are as iconic as ever, and Malin knows just how to serve them up."

After stints in the 1980s and `90s with hardcore bands and the glam-punk revival act D Generation, Jesse Malin found his true calling in the 2000s with a series of genre-bending solo efforts that found an urban toughness in roots-rock. Garnering critical accolades and the high-profile endorsements of both Ryan Adams and Lucinda Williams, the native New Yorker fused the catchy grit of Tom Petty, the vulnerability of Neil Young, and the street romanticism of Bruce Springsteen in one undeniably accomplished body of work.

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