Photos: Evan Parent
Source: NBC SoundDiego 

There is a certain etiquette shared by artists who don’t make a fuss about introductions. Never to overcompensate; they’re sure to trim the chatter and just play. Jeremy Messersmith has done this before. He and his accompanying band begin: complete with a cellist, drums, guitar and bass synchronize so romantically that you start to wish you’d dressed a bit more appropriately. That you’d done something with your hair. Their music calls for elegance, but not the pretentious kind because let’s not forget– Messersmith and co. are first and foremost an indie pop band. Their latest record, “The Reluctant Graveyard” is ripe with sophistication, sing-along melodies and such sweetened, well-crafted arrangements that it allows for more subtly morbid lyricism.

The Minneapolis quartet open with Novocaine, a song that laments, “I could have been someone but now my name is just a ghost” a feeling best reserved for artists who never had a chance, but Messersmith is critically acclaimed- celebrated by the likes of NPR “All Songs Considered” and adored by the Twin Cities reputable music scene, and touted as one of their best songwriters under 30. Such defeat seems a little premature. Yet that’s perhaps the best part of his songwriting, so rich in narrative- it’s imaginative enough to be removed, and that’s what separates the most compelling storytellers from the rest.

The band’s musical fluidity– from masterful rhythms, fluttering strings that ease low and climb high, nimble finger picking and punching bass lines; is revealed through the agreeable nodding of Messersmith, like his head bobs are what really keeps it all together. They perform “Knots” with softness that builds in transition to Lazy Bones, a track that moves to a Strokes-like beat. He then announces that he’ll play a slower tune, as foreshadowing strings hint the melody to “A Girl, A Boy and a Graveyard” a beautiful narrative of exactly that. The complexities of youth, death and young love.

Messersmith rounded out the night with songs like Deathbed Salesman, singing, “this is how it has to end, so love somebody while you can” while couples began pairing up and dancing to the left of the bar. He thanked everyone once again saying, “I’m surprised anyone doesn’t have anything better to do on a Monday night!”