★★★

It is well within Toy’s capability to deliver a dazzling set of scorched psychedelia, but a shame to see them fall short of their usual standards in Brighton.

The five-piece, some of whom grew up in Brighton, have built a reputation as a stimulating and progressive rock band across three albums and relentless touring. Sound issues seemed to plague them here, though, with singer Tom Dougall gesturing for his vocals to be amplified in the mix for the first six songs.

This issue wasn’t as detrimental to the overall performance as the murky guitar tones, however. Toy are at their best when the intricacies of the guitars are audible beneath their customary whipcrack drums and roving basslines, but, for whatever reason, such nuances were lost at The Haunt. A lot of the band’s wig-outs seemed interchangeable from song to song.

That said, thrilling kinetic energy was still on occasional evidence here – especially on elongated krautrock jams Fall Out of Love and the title track of their new album Clear Shot.

Elsewhere, and despite the low vocal mix, Dougall delivered a pitch perfect rendition of the moving Heart Skipped a Beat. New track Cinema, with its eerie keyboard riff, also impressed.

A mixed night all in all – Toy will have better in the days and months to come.