Masonic

Live Like a Millionaire

Five albums in, Masonic’s formula remains steadfast: handcrafted dream pop melancholia gilded by effects pedals and keyboards scavenged from across the decades. Despite its overlong run time, Millionaire‘s high ground successfully expands on the long-running local quintet’s 2003 masterstroke, Too Far. Too Fast. Too Soon. Millionaire snaps to life with a Flying Nun-flavored guitar shimmer, “Lifetime of Deception,” which finds vocalist Eryn Gettys maintaining cool, breathy reserve in the verse before soaring skyward on the chorus. The clap-along sports rock beat and slippery synth that drive “Every Time This Happens” stand in stark contrast to the somber piano and vocal arrangement on “They Wanted So Much.” Of all their covers, Masonic’s slide-guitar-infused version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye” is easily the most arresting to date. Likewise, the faded, cinematic sweetness of “Let’s Do It Again” is almost enough to compel an ill-advised reconciliation with a snuffed-out flame.

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This article appears in August 13 • 2010.

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Greg Beets was born in Lubbock on the day Richard Nixon was elected president. He has covered music for the Chronicle since 1992, writing about everyone from Roky Erickson to Yanni. Beets has also written for Billboard,Uncut, Blurt, Elmore, and Pop Culture Press. Before his digestive tract cried uncle, he co-published Hey! Hey! Buffet!, an award-winning fanzine about all-you-can-eat buffets.