If you want to know where rock music is at today, then you need to look no further than bands like The Haunt. Rock music may seem as if it found its perfect form a long time ago, and to a degree, that is very true. But what The Haunt has always been astute at is writing songs that tick all of the boxes for the genre’s traditions – effortless, low-slung groove, relentless back-beats, rhythms that make you want to move, foot-on-the-monitor attitude, the sound of outsider anthems – but which move the genre onwards at the same time.
“Can People Really Change?” their latest release and a co-write with their current tour support MISSIO, is the perfect example of this in action. Yes, there is much going on here that sounds familiar, but it is the way that they shake the form up that keeps things really fresh.
It is a song draped in dark, alternative, sub-gothic vibes and blends the traditional analog sounds of the genre with a digital sheen. A song that mixes recognizable rock moves with nu-metal creativity, a song that tips its hat to the past but has its eyes firmly set on the future. A song full of rage and righteousness. It is a song that ebbs and flows between worlds, wanders through the liminal spaces between rock subgenres, and plays with grand dynamics and expertly placed breakdowns. It is the sound of rock music reestablishing its dominance over a brave new world.
It’s as simple as that. It’s as adventurous as that. It’s as brilliant as that.
