Entertainment

The general consensus seems to be that the Haunted were remarkable for being an English language band in the heavily Frenched out Canadian city of Montreal. Seems like an easy way to be remembered and one that has little to do with music, covered or original. And of course, since the band wasn’t too much more than a sixties’ styled rave up ensemble, seated near by to the Stones at the Beggar’s Banquet, I suppose it could have been worse.

What’s surprising about the Haunted, though, is the fact that the band was able to toss off a pretty wide swath of rock stances. It’s not all garage styled rockers like the troupe’s best known song “1-2-5.” There’re actually two versions of the song kicking around – both included on The Haunted – one with the band’s original singer and the admittedly more professional latter edition with some other guy on the mic. There’s nothing smooth about either version, but the original rendition is perhaps a bit more engaging thanks simply to the fact that the singer appears to be as displeased with being forced to sing into a mic as kids are pissed about detention. The uncaring attitude aside, “1-2-5” is a pretty traditional garage track.