#58 "Downliner" by Jesse Malin

One day I was walking through the cd aisles in Border Books. I don't know if I was looking for something, but I happened to glance at the albums that were being promo'ed in the listening stations. Something about one of them caught my eye. In the description, it said something about being "produced by Ryan Adams." As I've already established on this list, I'm a big fan of Adams. What I later came to find out was that Adams was a fan of Jesse Malin's. I listened to the cd, called "The Fine Art of Self-Destruction," and heard something in it that piqued my curiosity. I've been fan of Malin's ever since.

One thing that really caught my ear upon that first listen was the way the songs sounded. The production was really good. As I read through the liner notes, I found out that Ryan Adams not only produced the record, he also played a lot of electric guitar on it which is impressively displayed in songs like "Queen of the Underworld" and "Almost Grown" in addition to the song profiled here, "Downliner." Melissa Auf der Mar is also featured on the album, and her backing vocals are fantastic. Aside from the all-star supporting cast though, "The Fine Art of Self-Destruction" is also a great introduction to Jesse Malin.

Malin's voice is unique. It's kind of this bruised tough-guy sound most of the time. I think that's part of his appeal. At one point he looks and sounds like some street-punk, but then he turns around and reveals a heavy heart beneath the leather jacket and spiked hair. Most of the songs on "TFAOSD" are hymns to Malin's native Brooklyn. They're tales from a boy in the neighborhood and their blue collar appeal even caught the ear of Bruce Springsteen, who sang a duet on Malin's recent "Glitter in the Gutter" album.

"Downliner" has a lot of cool lyrics and great Ryan Adams electric guitar. I love some of the lines like "Lots of baggage and not much clothes." Paul Westerberg would've been proud of that one. My favorite line comes near the end when Malin sings, "You and me... you know we don't talk much. It's hard to handle something you can't touch." That's a great play on words and Malin's sad delivery makes it all the more emotional.

"Downliner" is from the album "The Fine Art of Self Destruction." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.