Long-time readers of this site will know how partial I am to bands from Manchester. I'm not saying that every band from the city is good, but, dammit, it sure seems that way sometimes. I've been to Manchester for a lovely few days ages ago and I don't know what's in the water there, but it seems to sustain an awful lot of great groups. The latest to earn praise is going to be Document, whose new EP, A Camera Wanders All Night, is out now digitally and on cassette next week from Ramber Records.
"The Spy Who Came In From The Cold" opens things with big slabs of sound. This is pushy music, and music that recalls even Yank bands like The Jesus Lizard. "The World Until Yesterday" is even better, shades of Editors and Interpol here but Document seem to be full of much more menace. This is stuff that will earn lots of comparisons to select numbers in the Birthday Party output too, for example.
"Pity" is the lead single here and it takes the bad intent of this band's sonic assault and makes it into something nearly catchy. At their best, these fellows neatly favor both mood and melody. In other hands this might come off as comically heavy, but here things seem genuinely dangerous at a few moments, such that one imagines the kind of chaos this lot might unleash in the right venue at some point in the future. What I liked most about A Camera Wanders All Night is how these players were taking familiar forms and putting a unique stamp on them.
A Camera Wanders All Night is out now via the link below and on cassette next week from Ramber Records.
More details on Document via the official Facebook page.
[Photo: Document Bandcamp]