Masonic

Things I Am Guilty Of

As the tide of indie rock changes from shoegaze to post-punk to bar rock, local fivepiece Masonic remains a staple of the good stuff. Fourth LP Things I Am Guilty Of finds the Mason brothers (keyboardist and songwriter Kevin, guitarist John, and drummer Brian) plus new bassist Trey D’Amico (aka Toof) in a crisper, tightly wound, syncopated pop songs swirling around Eryn Gettys’ breathy vox. Opening with acoustic shadow dweller “Under the Radar,” Masonic introduces the Dandy Warhols to Mercury Rev. Through dance beats (“Repeat My Fate,” “Last Chance”), regret (“I Never Said”), and old-school memories (Gettys’ psychedelic take on Del Shannon’s “Runaway”), the band hits that Fifties-tinged, good-girl-gone-bad essence. With female vocals replaced by male and eschewing drums, closer “Reprise” creeps along with a Lynchian strut. Masonic is no one-trick pony, but over the years they’ve proved that DIY no longer equals a lo-fi, scratchy mishmash. Quite the opposite. ***

This article appears in November 16 • 2007.

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