As Hackman‘s Darryl Shepard said when he announced the band was breaking up, there were three new songs. Well, thanks to StonerRock posting the link, you can get ’em now while they’re free. Still sorry to see these dudes go. Hopefully it doesn’t stick and we all get to be excited about a reunion in the near future.

Boston‘s Hackman recently disbanded. Prior to the break-up, the four-piece recorded three new songs at Mad Oak Studios with Devin Charette. They are available for downloading at this location. Hackman guitarist Darryl Shepard describes the tracks as such:

?Brokeback Hoboken? – total guitar overkill. we would’ve played more solos but we ran out of notes.

?Herculean? – tuned down to A. Title fits the music perfectly.

?Mangrove? – a song about a tree.

Hackman released two full-length albums, The New Normal and Enterprises, on Small Stone Records.

www.myspace.com/hackmanriffs

When last we heard from Hackman guitarist Darryl Shepard, he was rejoicing that departed bassist Jase had rejoined the band. Now apparently they’re done. Bummer. They were one of the first interviews done for this site and a quality group all around. If you haven’t checked out their second and apparently final album, Enterprises, it’s definitely worth your time.

Of course, Shepard will be reuniting with his old Milligram band mates at the Small Stone Records showcase in?Boston this September 26 (more info here), and if anything in music is worth knowing it’s that almost never does “never” mean never. In the meantime though, it’s a shame to see a band like Hackman bite the dust. Here’s what Shepard had to say about it on the StonerRock.com message board:

Finished. Kaput. Over. No more. We had a couple of shows coming up, we have canceled for both of them. No more shows. Totally done. We just recorded three final songs at Mad Oak, we’re gonna finish those up and then that will be it. Thanks to everyone who dug the band and came out to shows and supported us in any way. Over and out.

There are many reasons, but to sum it all up it just became more of a hassle than it was worth. The band was making absolutely no money at all, even at shows, so we’ve been paying for everything right out of our own pocket, and we just can’t do that anymore. Plus everyone’s different schedules made planning anything, including rehearsals, a huge pain in the ass. We don’t hate each other or anything, but it’s just time for it to end before we do hate each other. The band has basically just run its course, and I personally feel like we’ve said all we need to say as a band, musically.

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The love of stoner rock Hackman guitarist/sometimes vocalist Darryl Shepard speaks of below is clearly evident in the feedback intro and lead riff of a song like “Panama” from new album Enterprises. Unlike so much of the US stoner scene, the Boston songwriter embraces the genre’s past, as opposed to those who will tout their band as being anything but stoner rock in hopes of either attaining some measure of commercial success (even if underground) and/or not being pigeonholed in a specific genre — which is basically the same thing.

Following the release of Enterprises, Shepard and drummer Owen parted ways with bassist/founding member Jase, and now are faced with the prospect of having to replace an integral piece of one of the the country’s most promising power riff trios. Following the jump, Shepard discusses that prospect, his love of all things cosmically doomed-out and, of course, the Sox. Read more »