IT would have been easy to overlook these American albums on release at the butt end of 2002.

Easy but cause for regret. Jesse Malin had been the lead singer of New Yorkers D Generation - three albums up to 1999 in the style of Iggy, Johnny Thunders and the New York Dolls, without matching their impact - but then he discovered Steve Earle, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen and forged a drinking bond with neighbour Ryan Adams, literate rock's man of the moment. Alchemist Adams has produced Malin's vivid solo debut, a collection of streetwise urban tales of unsung heroes, helpless romantics and rock'n'roll survivors recorded in a week with punk urgency coursing through the classic, rough-hewn rock structures. "His songs are so good they hurt," says Adams. Counting Crows' Adam Duritz made it his album of the year, Uncut magazine its record of the month in its November issue, and yes it is that good. For further proof, see Malin at the Leeds Cockpit next Monday.

One record with the title Let Go is at number one in the album charts and while Nada Surf are unlikely to follow tearaway teen Avril Lavigne to the peak, they warrant investigation, especially after record-company litigation held them in recording quarantine for four years. So Let Go is only the New York trio's third album in eight years but well worth the wait. Here are Big Star harmonies, heart-pumping songs of intense, all-consuming love and the eerie sense of wonder of Flaming Lips. Surf's up.

Updated: 10:41 Thursday, January 16, 2003