Album Details

• Artist: Jeremy Messersmith
• Album: The Silver City
• Label: Princess
• Year of Release: 2008
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2008-11-28

Minneapolis pop wizard Messersmith crafted "The Silver City" as an ode to his hometown, a place that at least emotionally, has been a psychic hometown to many music fans at least since the years of Twin Tone, Husker Du, Replacements, etc. The city has maintained a reservoir of talent ever since, and this often stunning pop gem offers further proof of its endurance as a muse and a creative center.

This love song to the city recasts it as a kind of mystical wonderland, certain actual landmarks like mythic spots that inspire and bring safety and joy. The Beatleqsue dense, smartly positive pop ennobles songs and places like"Franklin Avenue." Even seemingly tough topics for celebration like "Welcome To Suburbia" and "Dead End Job" are filled with wonder and evoke magical landscapes. Messersmith clearly implies that rality is merely a jumping off point. "Virginia," "Love you To Pieces" and "Miracles" mean just what they say, but are delivered in a sublte, confident wonder that any impulse to wax ironic about such emotional honesty is drubbed. A reverent cover of Paul Westerberg's  "Skyway" fits perfectly too, a chance to honor both another Minneapolis landmark, and pay respects to one of the other artists who saw the city and contributed to its magic.

With whimsical, lush production that is also understated, "The Silver City" sounds like a dream, but a dream of a land it is possible to visit. We've all been there already. There are places and people in everyone's life that become myths, sometimes idealized, sometimes not, but part of our inner life. Jeremy Messersmith's myths are in Minneapolis, and he sees them clearly, believing  in them most of the time.

User Reviews and Comments