Paul Wagenblast
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s featured selection, chosen by Midday Show host Cheryl Waters, is “Man At Arms” by Nurses from the group’s 2009 album Apple’s Acre on Dead Oceans.
Nurses are a feel-good story. A hardworking band with a few smaller releases under their belt, they forged ahead with small PR and a few hot streaks as far as press coverage was concerned. All the while, the trio plied their craft, refined their skills, tightened their melodies, and found their own hollowed niche in which to nest. The hard work is paying off with a new label (Dead Oceans) and a new album (Apple’s Acre). “Man at Arms” finds the threesome existing in a plane many have surrendered to Grizzly Bear, but Nurses offer a bit of old fashioned pop and whimsy mixed in with their flushed out folk melody. As “Man at Arms” -- along with the whole of Apple’s Acre -- begins to burrow its way into your mushy mind, you’ll soon forget who Nurses sound like and do what good boy and girls do: find all the things that make Nurses unique. Trust us, there’s plenty to be discovered.
With a glance at Nurses’ MySpace page, you’ll be dazzled at just how earnest and hardworking the Portland outfit is. A non-stop touring schedule finds the band hitting Seattle twice: The Vera Project September 22nd with The Brunettes and an October 23rd show with Le Loup at Chop Suey. While you admire and gasp at the August-thru-November schedule ahead for Nurses, may we also give you a video to admire: “Lita Vandango.”
