Lozen and Black Ghost @ The Stork Club 1/7/2006

While most popular groups today are putting forth bad imitations of tunes already played out by the likes of The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, The Lashes and others, Lozen and Black Ghost thankfully have ignored the trend, instead playing pure, aggressive, balls-to-the-wall rock. Lucky for them, as demonstrated January 7 at the Stork Club in Oakland, the scene is ripe for a new sound. During setup, Lozen's drummer, Justice, and singer/guitarist, Hozoji, looked like two cool chicks about to play what could have been decent college/grrl rock. But after witnessing Justice running in place to warm up for the set, it was evident the audience was about to get something altogether different. As the duo cranked out the low-tuned notes of the first song, "Made With Love," the club's atmosphere dramatically shifted from your average Saturday night on the town to one of excitement and anticipation. Like the female Apache warrior from whom the band gets its name, the two women from Tacoma, Washington, attacked the audience with an in-your-face ferociousness. As the strands of her long black hair hung wildly over her face and shoulders, Hozoji roared lyrics with a voice unlike any female front person I'd seen in quite some time. In a perfect meshing of voices, Justice and Hozoji belted lyrics like /In a pile of spilled guts lies a still beating heart/ from "Heart of Filth," before closing the set with a new yet-to-be named song. Though everyone cried for more, the girls of Lozen had already outdone themselves. Unlike Lozen of the 1800s, these self-described purveyors of art or butt-rock should not be kept a secret.

..2..Lozen's killer performance certainly set the stage for Oakland's own Black Ghost. The trio opened the set with Phantom Realm, startling the crowd with dirty riffs and monstrous vocals. While bassist Craig Eastman and drummer Shannon Core pounded a dark beat, frontman/guitarist Baron Von Hand sang with an extreme richness. The band, who was only playing its third show as a threesome (for two years it was a duet), created a unified body of rawness with sounds familiar to that of early Nirvana. During the last two tunes, "Alcohologram" and "Beloved Immortal," fans even broke out into a subtle mosh pit. (Pity the crowd surfing failed to commence...) As they held out the final notes of "Dawn of Lepus," the same fans cheered for an encore. When Von Hand declared the band had no more songs, some shouted, "Play something you already played. Play Phantom Realm again." To much disappointment, however, Black Ghost didn't plug back in. Fans will simply have to wait till next time.

For more on Lozen, go to www.myspace.com/lozen
Find Black Ghost online at www.myspace.com/blackghost

- Erin F. Ansley

To view online and picture:
http://theowlmag.com/livereviews.asp?cdPage=1&lrPage=3&vPage=1&fPage=1&month=6&year=2006&date=6/16/2006&id=40