On paper, the Nurses’ formula sounds a shade of awful: hootenanny
percussion, two guys singing in layered high-pitched caterwauls, and
plinking pianos topped with synthesizers. But what music ever sounds
good on paper?
In actuality, Apple’s Acre is instantly invigorating,
caterwauling and all. Aaron Chapman and John Bowers have created an
alternate universe (or acre, if you will) in which the neighborhood
winos are also futuristic prophets with a hyper-developed sense of
melody and rhythm. Each song is equally focused on percussion and
melody. Guitars are sparse, and Bowers’ and Chapman’s voices cry, wail,
whistle and whine together in cathartic glee. Melodies and beats morph
into myriad variations, all of which are consistently catchy. All this,
despite those voices in the background which sound like
hyperventilating banshees. They themselves put it best on
“Technicolor”: “Doesn’t make much sense.”
Sometimes the lackadaisical precision of music that is intentionally
spontaneous-sounding—where hours and hours of painstaking work
went into creating that perfectly, thoughtfully messy sound (“Why, yes,
we really just walked into the studio and played that song just like
that, in one take: done!”)—actually succeeds. Just listen to the
way Bowers and Chapman creak out the chorus on “Man at Arms.” This kind
of nonchalance is the result of skilled musicians who know just how to
make it all sound so relaxed and easy.
This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2009.
