Long Way Home

Well, they've aged, which is no surprise. The first Hackamore Brick release in 38 years — which is really original members Tommy Moonlight and Chick Newman sharing vocals, keyboards, and guitars, with Robbie Biegel on drums — is better than one might hope, given the lapse of so much time. It's nowhere near as startling as their 1970 debut LP, One Kiss Leads to Another, which is also understandable; a lot of water has passed under the bridge around Newman and Moonlight, so that even if they had emulated their 1970 sound, what was cutting edge and even ahead of its time then would be decidedly retro today. But they haven't done that — proto-punk sensibilities are long in their past, based on the brand of pop/rock that they've delivered here, and both seem heavily influenced by the music of Randy Newman (which is not a bad thing). Both are still good, expressive singers, with some strong songs to their credit — Moonlight's "Call Me Home" and "Hurry Back Home" are the kinds of songs one could build a great set or a good singer/songwriter career on, and are worth the price of admission, and the latter song, which opens this 22-minute mini-album, shows some of the spare, minimalist stylistic elements that characterized their 1970-vintage work. But Chick Newman's "Going Around Together" is also a killer track in its own right, and paired with "Call Me Home" would have made one hell of a single 30-plus years ago. Newman writes movingly and personally about matters of love and time, and if he doesn't sing quite as attractively as Moonlight, his is still a voice worth hearing. There are a few flaccid moments, in the writing and the execution; Newman's "I Can't Get High Enough," for example, is attractive for what feels like all the wrong reasons, yet the song still pulls the listener in, mostly because of some great hooks and a fantastic bridge sequence. Anyone looking for the Velvet Underground influences of their 1970 work may be disappointed — on the other hand, discovering what these guys are doing in 2009 is also worth the listen, and more than once. And one has to admire Newman and Moonlight for putting this record out at this late date — they've obviously had music careers and didn't need to take a second bite of the apple as Hackamore Brick, but they did, and haven't come out badly, with at least three truly great songs between them and three more good ones.