Jesse Malin

Jesse Malin came up playing in hardcore bands and the gutter-glam hard-rock outfit D Generation in New York City, a background his current singer-songwriter-meets-power-pop sound obscures a little. But the actual songwriting attempts to reconcile it all, especially on some highlights from last year's Love It To Life. "Burning In The Bowery" and "All The Way From Moscow" find a certain punk-ish energy pushing Malin into his 40s, but as the titles and lyrics make clear, he's not above savoring the past and playing up a sense of history. He does so with more fondness than world-weariness, which makes these swinging sing-alongs a lot more enjoyable than just another New York punk throwback. 

Updated 07/05/2011