Hungry Ghost by Hungry Ghost

Hungry Ghost, a Portland rock duo, was born of decades long friendships and mutual admiration. Stewed and simmered in the cauldrons of Olympia post-punk, Portland experimentalism, and New Mexican trash-garage, Hungry Ghost is Sara Lund (Unwound) on drums, Andrew Price (Irving Klaw Trio) on guitar, and formerly featuring Lorca Wood (The Drags) on bass. Masterfully produced by PacNW legend Sam Coomes (Quasi, Heatmiser, Elliot Smith, Pink Mountain, Crock, etc), who also contributes guest keyboards on the album, these recordings manage to capture the focused, gritty edge and hypnotic raw power of the band’s live performances. In addition to the aforementioned bands, nods are given to influencers as far and wide as Led Zeppelin, Erkin Koray, Alice Coltrane, The Groundhogs, The Staple Singers, John Fahey, Black Sabbath, Pussy Galore, Nick Drake, The Kinks, X, Joy Division, The Gories, desert blues, and African Psychedelia of the '60s and '70s.

“You can tell (or at least I can tell) when a band is playing together for the joy of it, for the love of rocking; where all other aspirations are secondary at best, where you never feel for a second that the band is trying to put one over on you. Hungry Ghost! This music is spare, honed down to essentials – there is no faking it at this level. There’s no need to know what hip, respected underground bands the players were previously members of at whatever time in the past – this band doesn’t really sound like them anyway; but suffice it to say these are real players, their cred is legit. The distillation of classic American forms (and I consider punk a classic American form, as much as blues and jazz) into a simultaneously familiar and individual sound is relatively common strategy, but in practice it is extremely difficult to pull off with anything resembling a natural, uncontrived result. Hungry Ghost! But then this isn’t theoretical stuff – you just have to hear it and feel it – if you do this, it’s there, I’m telling you! At which point they won’t need me to justify it with verbiage.” – Sam Coomes

"Led Zeppelin meets ESG" (J. Funk, Helll, Tokyo)

"Hungry Ghost extrapolates from a bluesy, guitar-forward template into a gloriously unpredictable din that recalls better times" (Portland Monthly)

"Part of me hopes that the legion of Pacific Northwest garage-punk trios never hear Hungry Ghost's self-titled album. Because it likely would cause them to give up the dream. And that would be depressing, even though they will likely never be as good as Hungry Ghost. If they spend the next 20 years honing their chops, it's just possible they will get there—so long as they have a drummer as good as Sara Lund of the Corin Tucker Band and Olympia's wildly influential post-hardcore pioneers Unwound. Lorca Wood (the Drags) plays bass, and Andrew Price, of the experimental 1990s group Irving Klaw Trio, plays guitar with a dexterously nerdy style that belies the band's overall aesthetic of funky grime. Everybody sings, though Price takes main responsibility for the vocals. An exercise in rock economy, the nine short songs come together to form what may be my favorite album of 2012." REBECCA WILSON - PORTLAND MERCURY

Hungry Ghost, a Portland rock duo, was born of decades long friendships and mutual admiration. Stewed and simmered in the cauldrons of Olympia post-punk & Portland experimentalism, Hungry Ghost is Sara Lund (Unwound) on drums, Andrew Price (Irving Klaw Trio) on guitar, and formerly featuring Lorca Wood (The Drags) on bass.

hungryghostmusic.com
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