Nurse

Consisting of members from Dasher, Slugga, Manic and the now-defunct Cheap Art, relative newcomers Nurse have followed up last year’s excellent demo tape with a new four-song 7-inch. While their demo was a raw, grimy assault of hardcore/powerviolence, their 7-inch improves upon their sound with more polished production and interesting dynamics. Some of the guitar work here I would not expect to hear in the context of most hardcore. For instance, the riff that opens and closes A-side opener “The Anchor,” sounds downright surreal and foreboding (at least relative to what comes afterwards), in an almost deathrock-influenced fashion. The song that follows, “I Can See You,” is just over a minute of driving hardcore tension; at 0:53, there’s even a solo of sorts to interrupt the monotony, but rather than give the listener a chance for a quick breather, it reeks of increasing suspense. The end result is downright unnerving.

I particularly enjoyed the way this record alternates effortlessly between moods. “Pressure” is undoubtedly the best example of this: it opens with a brutal post-punk riff and quickly devolves into catchy hardcore punk territory before returning to the previous riff again and again. “Blood Breath” is more reminiscent of the second track, however, there are scattered, ephemeral moments of the brooding misanthropy hinted at by the album art, which features a cloaked Death holding a small boy under his robe in a sepia-toned forest. Only the boy’s face is shown and his expression is ambiguous. Is he being held captive and emerging for the picture out of a drugged haze? Or is he a sort of protégé of Death, staring at us with the maximum intimidation he can muster? I suspect the group’s self-appointed “funeral hardcore” label is mostly a tongue-in-cheek descriptor, but with some more introspective moments, the band could definitely earn a place in the soundtrack to my next cemetery excursion.

Nurse will perform on Sunday, September 13 at the Earl when they open for Hank Wood & the Hammerheads, NOTS and fellow locals Slugga and Uniform. Doors open at 8 p.m. Admission is $8 in advance or $10 DOS.

More Info
Bandcamp: nurseatl.bandcamp.com
SoundCloud: @nurse-8