Album Review: Andrew Mason’s “Hardly Workin’” Is No Swan Song

By Pete Rizzo, Editor (@pete_rizzo_)

Let’s face it: Andrew Mason was never going to be a cross-genre pop sensation a la Adele’s 21. 

Instead, we get a quarter life-crisis country album from the founder and former CEO of daily deals giant Groupon:, a letter to the business community that’s equal parts love, loss and revival. The album reveals surprising influences – Huey Lewis, Kenny Loggins, Bruce Springsteen – that show Mason is once again out of step with his contemporaries in a way that’s interesting. But in this case, only occasionally enjoyable.

As a salvo to the business community, the album is an accomplishment. It successfully showcases Mason’s creativity while proving that he isn’t satisfied with sit still in his underemployment. This shouldn’t be surprising – creative people create, but here Mason uses his energy to both pursue a passion and keep his career afloat. He succeeds on both fronts on Hardly Workin’ by keeping the focus on what he knows best: business.

Sure, Mason’s songs often include a heap of generalities about the “journey” up the company ladder, and all of these songs could serve as a theme song to ’90s TV shows. But, Mason wisely keeps the album to under 30 minutes and all of his songs under five minutes. It’s the brevity that helps the songs go down easier than they should, even though they won’t likely end up in your iTunes library. 

Still not sure if you want to invest in a full listen? Here’s a track-by-track breakdown of the seven-song album.

“Look No Further”

“If you’re seeking business wisdom, you don’t need no M.B.A.” It’s a simple leading line, but Mason’s words set the tone for the album surprisingly well. “Look No Further” is a tongue-in-cheek homage to heartland rock that references Catcher in the Rye, Claude Monet and includes a Pink Floyd-style gospel choir.

“The Way to Work”

This song starts with a slow and steady verse about Mason’s commute to work that builds to a pop-country chorus. Some of the artistic choices are clunky, particularly his use of the phrase “urban forests” and the track’s shrieking ’80s metal guitar solo. But, it isn’t unlistenable, and it evokes the central theme of the album: treating business as a journey.

“My Door is Always Open”

This is the first truly awful song on the album. “My Door is Always Open” is a weirdly tender and vaguely sexual duet between Mason and a female vocalist who plays the role of squeaky young intern afraid to approach him with ideas. I would advise against listening to it.

“Risin’ Above The Pack”

The album’s fourth track is another road-weary anthem complete with gospel choir that finds the narrator becoming a business success. Here, Mason dispenses general advice like “Now if you’re willing to work for it, the rest ends up easier than you think,” “Know what’s expected and exceed it” and “Don’t bring people problems, bring them solutions” while his skilled backing musicians try to keep the song afloat.

“K.I.S.S.”

An acronym for “Keep It Simple Stupid,” “K.I.S.S.” is actually a pretty well written song. On “K.I.S.S.” Mason manages to impart a musicality to some of the tougher entries in the business lexicon while keeping the tune’s toe-tapping playful vibe.  

“Stretch”

“Stretch” is by far the most interesting song on the album. It begins by following a tense Nine Inch Nails bass line and slick syncopated guitar into a budding chorus that ebbs away. Lyrically, he comes closest to a critique of his business experience here with the tone of the lines: “Measurable and controllable, you’ve heard that all before. Now take the numbers you can hit for sure and add a little more.”

“It’s up to Us”

The album ends with a plaintive piano ballad that strives for an emotional close. Mason is flush with sarcasm as he sings about how great it will feel to look back and know he disrupted an industry. “No pain, no gain,” he says. On this track, it’s clear Mason has ended up with both.