Slow Motion Gets Around is The Hong Kong’s first full-length album, following up an EP released four years earlier. As with their EP, Slow Motion Gets Around sports some painfully obvious influences (singer Catherine Culpepper does a spot-on Debbie Harry, and everything else sounds like a harder-edged Stereolab) but those influences don’t take away from the strength of the group’s songs. Some people might make a big fuss about the big glossy sheen of Ric Ocasek’s production, but it would be hard to find a producer that could screw up a song as charming as “Dreams” or “Not Getting Better.” It’s all a careful balancing act between garage-rock, 1960’s Spector/girl group melodies, and kraut-rock atmospherics, but The Hong Kong pull it off, with nary a clunker found among eleven songs. Need proof? Check out the video for “Tongue Tied” (http://youtube.com/watch?v=eW8yxOOgc2) – and yes, that’s Luna’s Dean Wareham! Need even more proof? Then just get the album, dammit. It’s a winner.
Midnight To Six 