Doctor’s Nurse’s approach to songwriting is similar to that of indie-rock legends Guided by Voices in that both groups pluck the best elements of psychedelic rock, prog-rock, lo-fi indie and power-pop and blend them into an amalgam of gorgeous, offbeat, well written rock & roll.
The similarities stop there because whereas Guided by Voices (at least classic GBV) churns out partially complete lo-fi gems as quickly as the ideas pop in their heads, Doctor Nurse works slowly and methodically, carefully crafting its ideas and tweaking them until they are just right. The band, for instance, spent years working on it album, Calm Seas, Phantom Lights, which was well worth the effort. The album is not only full of intelligent, grandiose psychedelic indie-folk, clearly written by educated music lovers, its production is masterfully nuanced with glistening layers of keyboards, guitars, percussion and vocal harmonies, which highlights the understated emotionality of the melodies. It is like the best Pink Floyd songs, which strike a balance between rocking out and drifting into a wash of mellow, incredible sounds. It is precisely the kind of album worth listening to on headphones to pick out every subtle detail with each listen—or live in concert, where the waves of sound and vibrations overtake you.

Playing at San Pedro Square Market | 8pm