Out of time or of it’s time, that is the question. Slippery and hazey, Nurses are a trio of pop hook sound worshippers from Oregon who live inside insular aural patches of psych-gaze. Their new album Dracula could only be the sound of the present day turning to night. Living in the shadows of a paisley park, Nurses deliver a frustrating record full of potential and missed opportunities.

Nurses sequestered themselves away from the buzz of headlines in a cabin outside of Portland in the winter to experiment with sound. Keeping vampire hours, the band collaborated overdub by overdub, building these songs meticulously. The results are mixed at best. Portions of the record are focused and well produced. “Dancing Grass” is a trippy joy to listen as one watches clouds drift. The piano on “Trying to Reach You” is chipper enough to set the hipster crowds awkwardly hopping and one of the real highlights here. All over Dracula one hears a group of a talented music makers enjoying the pleasure of playing with sound and impressing their fellow band members with each new discovery. “Eternal Thrills” is not just a fine piece of music, but a track listeners will be going back to.

The main drawback about this record is the monotony of the vocals. Imagine Wayne Coyne without his empathy on acid voice and that is what a listener will confront on Dracula. Song after song of impossibly whiny vocals grate on the nervous system. This is unfortunate because one suspects a better voice could take this album much further than it will go in the end.