Album Notes

Reviews of Hurry Through the Night

Do you remember the last time you heard a truly beautiful record? If you cannot do so, do yourself a favor and find Mason Dixon's Hurry Through The Night, for it will remind you just how moving great music is when it is performed by truly gifted players. Beginning with "Dance Ourselves into the Grave", which sounds like latter day Warren Zevon singing for ELO, the band brings you along for a journey through Americana that may be based in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan, but drip with down home, back porch, Southern warmth. Mike Robertson leads the way on vocals and guitar, but he is a finger in a fist of blessed artisans, as evidenced on the stirring "Hesitation Breeds Regret" and the gentle closer, "Reign Supreme". It takes a special type of band to make a song called "Two Ducks Sitting on a Cold Pond" passionate without becoming syrupy, but Mason Dixon does so with shocking ease. With earnest, story-telling lyrics that spin yarns about love, self-discovery and life experience in general, Hurry Through The Night is a record that should appeal to a wide array of ages and tastes. Sometimes it is nice to turn off the distortion pedal and hear clean, crisp playing done by friends with a common vision. This is simply majestic.
- Rich Quinlan, JERSEY BEAT

Carving out a gratifying blend of country, folk, power pop, and bar band rock, it is no easy enterprise to determine on which side of the symbolic dividing line between Northern and Southern culture Mason Dixon's muse lies. On one hand, Mason Dixon build impeccable pieces of rock and power pop from the energetic and enthusiastic remnants of Yankee dignitaries like The Replacements and Bruce Springsteen. On the other, the old time twang and poignant swing that creep to the soul of the band's music stir up vivid images of Dixie, and the classic musicians the region inspired. In the end, I suppose it does not really matter. Mason Dixon have their feet firmly planted in to rich, musical soil on both sides of the line. What matters is the proud tradition of alt-country cross over acts this Brooklyn Band follows. And if you are a fan of bands like Big Star, The Jayhawks, and The Old 97s, Mason Dixon just might fall right in line with your tastes.
- David Pitz, THE DELI MAGAZINE