Jeremy Messersmith is an Elliot Smith-styled singer, with a gentle wistful voice that make his new album “The Alcatraz Kid” easy to follow and enjoy. Wonderful lyrics and thoughful melodies that have just enough hooks to keep you involved. “Old Skin” is a heartfelt love theme and very memorable here. Bits of Sufjan Stevens, The Eels and even Bowie peek through as influences other than the late Mr. Smith. The instrumental tune on “Day Job” would fit fine on an Apple iphone commercial, but the story in the lyrics is compelling here as well. “Snow Day” is an upbeat tune here and conjures up images of warm cozy nights in front of a fire place, looking for that first snowfall. “Novocain” is also another keeper, with a great chorus about deadening heartache by “Passing another needle…” My only issue here is that album is pretty downbeat, all the way through without anything that exciting to get your blood pumping. But thank goodness the lyrics are not all bleak.This is a great start for Jeremy and hopefully we’ll hear more from him in the future. Purchase the album straight from MySpace or itunes.
Jeremy’s Website | My Space | Itunes | Princess Records