THE HAUNT + CRASHFACE – GREEN DOOR STORE, BRIGHTON 18.6.25
American band The Haunt arrive at the Green Door Store in Brighton (courtesy of Lout promoters) at the end of the UK leg of their tour promoting their ‘New Addiction’ album.
Support comes from London alt-rock band Crashface, who despite their apparent youth, have actually been operational for a few years now. Crashface are technically a duo, but are joined live by a guitarist called Ben and a drummer. Opening song ‘Atrocity’ is fast and punky, but it’s followed by ‘Murder Dream’ which is a riff-driven behemoth which Black Sabbath would have been proud of. Bassist Otto Balfour shines on some extraordinarily powerful backing vocals. With this opening one-two they make it very clear that they are no one-trick ponies.
‘Maniac’ is another riff-monster, being energetic and tight. ‘Low’ is more tuneful in a Green Day kinda way. However, vocalist Charlie Hinton is way too low in the mix, somewhat coincidentally. When he can be heard properly he reminds me of a young Paul Di’Anno. He knows how to work a crowd too, asking for and getting some audience participation. The songs are short, to the point, and don’t outstay their welcome. It’s just a pity that we didn’t hear more of them tonight. Underlining the economics of a touring band in the third decade of the 21st century, Charlie Hinton plugs Crashface’s t-shirts before final song ‘Surrender Lessons’.
Crashface:
Charlie Hinton – vocals
Otto Balfour – bass and backing vocals
Ben – guitar
? – drums
Crashface setlist:
‘Atrocity’
‘Murder Dream’
‘Maniac’
‘Low’
‘Scream’
‘Molotov Smile’
‘Surrender Lessons’
There’s a great deal of evident anticipation before The Haunt take the stage. It’s only Wednesday but it feels like a Saturday. The core band members are siblings Anastasia Grace Haunt and Maxamillion Haunt. Live however, they’re a four piece, being joined by Joey Castro on drums and Jake Truman on bass. The instrumentalists take the stage first, then there is an almighty roar as Anastasia joins them and they break into ‘Bad Omen’. The siblings share lead vocals on this song (as they do on a few others as well) but it is immediately obvious that Anastasia is clearly a brilliant frontwoman. She looks a little like a young Stevie Nicks, but rocks much harder. During ‘Morally Incompetent’ her vocals are awesome. Bassist Jake wears a Crashface t-shirt in a show of inter-band solidarity. Drummer Joey Castro is utterly earth-shattering during ‘Blood Red Heart’. I’d be nervous about him playing anywhere where there is a risk of tectonic activity.
‘I’m Not Yours’ is another riff-monster. Anastasia repeatedly lies on the stage. It’s hot. She’s probably tired. They get everybody to get down on the floor and then jump up again, which was tired two years ago. Still, most of the audience indulge them. During ‘Make Me A King’ Max (I hope he doesn’t mind me calling him Max) calls for a mosh pit, and it happens! Pity he can’t call for world peace. Anastasia has spent most of the set so far standing on a flight case at the front of the stage, but now she’s standing on the bassist’s amp! They cover ‘Hook Line & Sinker’ by Royal Blood, which is a nice nod to a local band. During this song Anastasia gets her mic lead tangled in the headstock of her brother’s guitar. She quickly extricates it without either of them missing a beat. Max isn’t a showy guitarist, but he does some quite interesting stuff, whilst making it look both simple and easy. He addresses the audience, and says that it’s so hot “it’s like playing a show in Florida”. Well, thank God I didn’t shell out for a holiday in the States this year!!!
‘Claws’ is probably the nearest to traditional rock that The Haunt get, whilst ‘OK’ is relatively gentle and demonstrates their keen sense of dynamics. ‘Dead 2 Me’ features Max on acoustic guitar, whilst ‘New Addiction’ features a superb rolling riff. If Anastasia was in a lesser band, I would say that she should leave and be a solo star. However, the rest of the band are on a par with her. They all deserve success. They’re not too precious to play a new song, ‘Worst In Me’ as the penultimate song of their set. It has a wonderfully grungy riff, and sounds like a future fave. The set draws to a close but they’re soon called back for an encore of ‘Masochistic Lovers’.
This has been a very impressive performance. My only quibble is that in comparison with their live versions, their records sound a little bit sterile. They could really do with releasing a live album, because there’s nothing at all wrong with their songs! They very obviously want to be loud and nasty, but they’re actually really quite melodic, although there’s obviously significant instrumental power behind their songs. As they are now I can see them headlining Wembley Arena or the O2. They’ve got the power, so to speak.
The Haunt:
Anastasia Grace Haunt – vocals
Maxamillian Haunt – guitar & vocals
Jake Truman – bass
Joey Castro – drums
The Haunt setlist:
‘Bad Omen’ (from 2025 ‘New Addiction’ album)
‘Morally Incompetent’ (from 2024 ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ EP)
‘Blood Red Heart’ (from 2025 ‘New Addiction’ album)
‘I’m Not Yours’ (a 2022 single)
‘Overdose’ (from 2023 ‘Dead On Arrival’ EP)
‘Make Me King’ (a 2021 single)
‘Little Like Hell’ (from 2024 ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ EP)
‘Hook, Line & Sinker’ (Royal Blood cover)
‘Claws’ (from 2025 ‘New Addiction’ album)
‘OK’ (from 2023 ‘Dead On Arrival’ EP)
‘Dead 2 Me’ (from 2025 ‘New Addiction’ album)
‘New Addiction’ (from 2025 ‘New Addiction’ album)
‘Going Under’ (from 2025 ‘New Addiction’ album)
‘Worst In Me’ (unreleased)
‘Wish You Stayed’ (from 2021 ‘Social Intercourse’ EP)
(encore)
‘Masochistic Lovers’ (from 2025 ‘New Addiction’ album)
