Document, Night & Day, 6th August 2021

I’m back in Night & Day for the second evening on the bounce. Tonight for another local band, the difficult to google Document. This band are the perfect advert for the argument to get in venues early and watch the support slots. That’s how I first heard Document supporting The Scuttlers at The Deaf Institute. That night, I was more taken with them than the headliners and fell in love with their A Camera Wanders All Night EP, nearly wearing out the tape (that’s right, tape). Of course that was all before lockdown and I’m itching to hear what they’ve been up to. I’d be remise to miss the support tonight though, although I only catch the end of Autosuggestion. From the two songs I heard though, they’re worth further investigation. Wych Elm I have listened to, they’re up next with a grunge flecked set of alt rock reminiscent of Pixies and Hole. Short songs filled with the classic quiet/loud guitars, solid bass and blistering vocals. They sound great. Even when we get the fearful line “This is the one with the accordion” it works. To the headliners Document. The floaty dresses and long hair of Wych Elm are swapped for suits, shirts and a hefty dose of doom. Maybe that’s not right, you’ve got to be careful with the word doom. Some take it as a negative thing, but I’m rather partial and it’s a large part of why I’m stood here. Document are loud, aggressive, a little bit dangerous. They look and sound like they want a fight. It’s fucking brutal. One song. That all it takes to turn the audience into a ravenous mass as the band turn up the dial from menacing to ‘come on then!’ I wanted to see if this enforced time off had changed them. They’ve gone from small support slot to crowdsurfing across a crowd that might well be saying this time next year “Yeah I was in Night & Day that night”. Singer Alex looks like he’d be handy in any altercation, waging his own personal war with the mic as he writhes around on a very sweaty looking stage. Half the band are topless before we get anywhere near the closer, as the set builds one devastating song after another. It’s not perfect, there’s a little lull mid-set, but it could be that everyone’s just knackered and needs a breather. I’m not sure what to compare them to, but needless to say they draw on the darker side of post punk and they do it brilliantly. Listen to the EP, listen to it loud and for god sake see them live as soon as you can.