When this new album from Manchester's Autocamper kicks off, a listener feels transported back some four decades. The clattering hooks of "Again" are as vibrant and fresh as similar material from The Fire Engines, Josef K, Close Lobsters, and The Wedding Present were so long ago. Like many acts on Slumberland Records at the moment, there's a real sense here in the workings of the group of how to harness the best stuff from the past in the service of the composition of new music. And the results are impressively energetic.
What Do You Do All Day? serves up early Go-Betweens vibes with the lilting "Red Flowers", while "Map Like a Leaf" is full of the same kind of lopsided charms as old sides by The Pastels were, as others have written already. Autocamper do this very, very well, and as the record goes on, you sort of ask yourself, "Where has this band been before now? How didn't I hear this sooner!?"
What Do You Do All Day? offers up some variety from the Autocamper arsenal with the epic-length "Somehow", but the Manc act is best when they stick to a kind of moderately hyper, concise C86-style attack. "Foxes", super reminiscent of Foxheads Stalk This Land-era Close Lobsters, is a real gem, as is "Proper", a nicely brusque bit of business with a killer hook. This sort of stuff seals the deal in making this a record that's easy to love.
For old indie-heads, What Do You Do All Day? sounds like all the bands you grew up on, and which formed your tastes in a decade past. For newer listeners, this Autocamper album should be pure listening pleasure, and the sort that may lead to more exploration in a good record store for stuff like this, and stuff that inspired this. This is a very highly recommended record.
What Do You Do All Day? by Autocamper is out this week via Slumberland Records.
[Photo: Slumberland Records]