Heat

Rolling Stone (p.122) - 4 stars out of 5 - "THE HEAT is liberation time: sharply drawn slices of naked-city life, rich in scarred guitars and made vivid and personal by Malin's cutting East Village-barfly yowl." Uncut (p.114) - 5 stars out of 5 - "THE HEAT is all genuine passion, brimming with energy, anger and great tunes sandwiched between the dense guitars." Uncut (p.76) - Ranked #31 in Uncut's "Best New Albums of 2004" - "Great tunes wrapped in dense guitars and delivered with tremendous passion, energy and righteous anger." Magnet (p.100) - "[I]t's hard to ignore that everything Malin touches is resplendent." Mojo (Publisher) (p.118) - 3 stars out of 5 - "Perpetually mysterious and grieving, THE HEAT walks a thin line between epic classicism and intimate sorrow..."

With New York City in his back pocket once again, Jesse Malin continues his serenade to lost loves and forgotten opportunities on his second album, The Heat. He kicks his best buddy, Ryan Adams, out of the production seat to take care of things himself and once more cuts apart his honest heart. Isn't that why most become musicians, to deal with the fear of loss and regret? Their wounded soul becomes their art and a way of dealing with the bad hand they got dealt. It's good therapy for most artists and a cold-water cure for a lot of music fans, but relying on that formula itself doesn't automatically make a great record. The Heat goes through the motions of telling stories and Malin is a charmer with his self-pitying poetics. Songs such as the false sexual gratification of "Arrested," the rompish skip and run of "Mona Lisa," and the haunted political errors of "New World Order" are loaded in affection and raw roots rock. Malin's drag racer-like desire to find some kind of solace with love is even more fierce on "Hotel Columbia," an excellent piano-guitar dalliance that never lets up. But no matter how much The Heat yearns for common ground, Malin's songwriting suffers somewhat. He's skilled and inventive with his work as a musician, but the aches and pains of songs like "Swinging Man" and "God's Lonely People" fall short of what Malin delivered on The Fine Art of Self-Destruction. It's as if he's reaching for something, but uncertain of what he's supposed to be reaching for. That's okay. The Heat is only Malin's second album and shouldn't be categorized as a slump. Sonically, he's progressing into a real cowboy balladeer without dismissing his punk days. The desperation of "Since You're in Love" makes this evident; however, lyrics like "I'm still sad over you" aren't poignant enough. Malin has what it takes to write a really beautiful love song, one full of love's usual blood and guts. Perhaps he's terrified -- like most people are -- of owning up to the fear of losing it or never having it? ~ MacKenzie Wilson

Dジェネレーションのフロントマンであるジェシー・マリン。マブダチであるライアン・アダムスのプロデュースによる前作『The Fine Art Of Self Destruction』で生来のフォーク気質が開花。ビターなオルタナ・カントリーとジャンクなルーツ・ロックがパンクの香りで彩られているものだから、その独自性はさらに際立つ。ニール・ヤング色とメロディー志向を強めた今作は、相当の注目を集めるはず。ピート・ヨーンも参加。
bounce (C)木村優宏