I like his music, but what is it with Jesse Malin’s gawd-damn hair? I mean, really, when did it become necessary for artists to wash their hair in peanut butter before the photo shoot? With fans like Springsteen and Adams (that’s Ryan, not John Quincy), Malin’s got cred no publicist could buy, even with a kilo of blow and box full of hunnerd-dollar bills. Hell, Bruce even duets with the guy. But the hair, the gawd-damn hair keeps getting in the way. No less an observer than our John Nova Lomax recently codified the hairstyle as “de rigueur lopsided.” What is the hair supposed to convey ย that Jesse is a little disheveled, that he sleeps in a Dumpster, that he ain’t got time for grooming, that actually dragging a comb through it once in a while might add a dose of saccharine to his cappuccino or his songs? Malin is a fine songwriter who delivers the goods on guitar and with his vocals. He gets what’s going on today, and his 2007 release Glitter in the Gutter will probably make lots of year-end lists. But the posing, the angst-filled looks and the NYC-tortured-artist bullshit that surrounds this guy. I’d believe him more if he looked like Henry Rollins.
This article appears in Jun 28 – Jul 4, 2007.