Levi’s Ones To Watch, Camden Barfly

With Dananananaykroyd pulling out earlier in the day there is a mighty fuss and hype shaped hole for Haunts to fill, aided and abetted by Turbowolf and the late addition of London based band The Invasion.

The sheer noise provided by the two opening acts is phenomenal and whilst everyone on stage seems to be talented, any clarity of songwriting is lost amidst the cacophony inside this tiny venue. Invasion’s breed of psyche metal is enough to blow you away through the smallest of headphones, so live songs such as ‘Three Gold Dragons’ are, unsurprisingly, quite a scary prospect. This noise needs to be heard to be believed.

Turbowolf also bring a huge level of volume with them to the stage but with an air of Spinal Tap about it. The All-American rock star look is believable until the opening song ends and a well spoken West Country accent drizzles across the microphone, but if you like your rock n roll, big loud and 80s then you won’t go far wrong with Turbowolf.

Haunts bring with them a much friendlier level of darkness to the stage; their tight, ghostly pop music can be a bit of a slow burner but bumping their set up to replace the headliners doesn’t seem to cause any problems. They have yet to set the world alight with the material they have released thus far but songs like single ‘Lowslung City Skyline’ and ‘Underground’ are given a new lease of life live and fresh from supporting the White Lies, on what you can only imagine was an incredibly jolly jaunt around Europe, they are sure to get some much deserved credit in the near future. The four-piece knit so well together with their interchangeable harmonies and moody cameos that only the extra energy could separate this set from their recordings. While many might make the “bold” statement of comparing yet another band to Joy Division, Haunts surpass that comparison with an almost futuristic take on moody pop, reminiscent of early Cazals. If anything they could have done with an injection of the power on show earlier in the evening. They may still be a few songs short of any great deal of attention but anyone who likes music for the here and now should really find some time to spare for Haunts.