Phantom Hound – From Boom Town To Ghost Town

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · Published January 15, 2025 · Updated January 15, 2025

The Oakland, California based power trio originally formed in 2013, under the name Hound. The Ether EP was released in 2016 and the band went through some lineup changes. The current members consist of Jake Navarra on guitars and lead vocals, Stephen Rogers on bass and synthesizer, and Jack Stiles on drums and backing vocals. The band officially changed their name to Phantom Hound in 2018 and self released their debut, 2020’s Mountain Pass. The band’s sound is a collective mix of desert rock, heavy psych, doom, blues, and grunge. On September 18th, 2024, Phantom Hound released their latest sophomore album called From Boom Town To Ghost Town.

The seven track album opens with “Eyes Upon Riches”, which features a spoken poetry scripture from Robert Service’s “The Prospector”. The song is a cool introduction to the record which starts with a synthesized fade into clean guitar and then joined by the drums and bass. The song has a nice psychedelic and progressive build up using spoken samples. The guitar fuzz kicks in at two and a half minutes in and it drifts into some cool guitar harmonies and riffing. “The Locksmith” is next and has some nice chunky riffing to accommodate Jake Navarra’s powerful voice. The band utilize backing vocals too which works great with the flow of the song. Excellent harmonic guitar leads are captured with a nice dense heavy psych blanket which warms the song throughout the fuzzy rhythms.

The third track “Gold Fever” has a driving grunge style groove to the sound. The vocals also employ an Alice In Chains vibe with the melody and backing harmonies. “Claims & Prospects” also shares the grungy rhythms and the Layne Staley vocal approach. The song has a great crunchy and catchy rhythm and is another solid number. The title track, “From Boom Town To Ghost Town” is next. This just might be my favorite song on the record. It starts off mellow with clean guitars and great singing vocals. It progresses with booming drums and a heavy low end bass sound. The distorted guitars turn on thereafter and the song is complimented with a natural flow of great tones and melodies. Phantom Hound does a fantastic job on letting each song escalate and procure into its musical integrity and dynamic. The subtle yet engaging expansion is perceivable and tangible on “Waterways (The Motherlode)”. The song incorporates different elements of sonic enhancements, from the trippy sounds in the beginning to the spoken word passages within the song. The progressive and heavy groove riffing are especially striking.

“Hooch’s Skull” is the final cut on From Boom Town To Ghost Town. It’s another great rocking riff fueled number that packs a mean punch. The shredding guitar leads and shades of melody are all complimentary to the heavy metallic riffing. Phantom Hound are a very talented band and great songwriters too. I was surprised when I found out that they only have three band members. The density of sound that they achieve is remarkable and I would have sworn that they were at least a quartet. Boom Town To Ghost Town is a very enjoyable listen and I will definitely be exploring the band’s other two releases.