Nurses
Portland bands have a reputation for taking pop music and warping it into something music writers might term experimental or difficult. For Nurses sophomore album, Apples Acre, this characterization was more or less fairthe record had some accessible moments, but they struggled under the weight of its lo-fi production. But on Dracula, the bands recently released follow-up, the hooks are pronounced and the melodies catchy (particularly on Fever Dreams and Trying To Reach You), and most strikingly, the songs bear a new-found electronic influence. Its easily the best album of the bands career, and live, the songs settle into some deep grooves under frontman Aaron Chapmans commanding, but not overpowering, vocals. As a whole, Dracula is accessible without being unsophisticated, and Nurses are a band to watchturns out that "Keep Portland weird" need not always apply to the music. With Dominant Legs, Jabon. ANDREW GOSPE
Fri., Oct. 28, 10 p.m., 2011
