Nurses - Dracula

You know what this record sounds like? My first impression is that it sounds a bit like if the singer from 12 Rods started singing in Band of Horses. As a fan of both bands (or at least their first couple of albums) that's fine by me. I'm also a little bit struck by how similar it sounds to the Social Climbers reissue I just reviewed. Glacial post-punk with synths and drum machines and slightly nasal vocals. There's a bit of Wolf Parade yelp to the singing in places too but it's not annoying, honest. There's a slight tropical element here as well (they utilise that synth steel drum sound that Passion Pit nicked off The Knife), I suppose, and a generous dash of dub in the rhythms. It all adds up to a pretty blissed out post-pop album which I think a lot of you guys will be all over. 'Trying to Reach You' is like a modern minimal post-punk type take on the Cure's 'Close To Me' and is my personal highlight. The whole record is super melodic and straddles the gap between synthpop and post-punk with apparent ease. The way it slows down the punk template actually brings to mind that album 'Morbido' by The Dreams that came out a few weeks ago, but here the smacked up feel is tempered by a bit of Passion Pit-esque pop nous, making for a well rounded and interesting record that should hold up well to repeated listens.