To immerse yourself in NURSES' "Apple's Acre" is to delight in a certain mental unraveling. Thes are songs where the vulnerability of pop with its heart on its sleeve engages in a double-dutch jumprope match with the euphoric surrender-to-the-weird that is essential to psychedelia.

And NURSES is a band that scavenges beauty and wonder, uncovering Technicolor where others see somber hues.

Their off-kilter psych-pop is driven by ever-swelling vocal harmonies, adventurous electronics, some serious wheelin' and dealin' on the Rhodes piano, and the kind of new-primitivist percussion that may or may not involve a standard drum kit.

An encyclopedic list of musical influences and sound-alikes won't necessarily cozy up your brain to the NURSES experience.

Their compositions revel in the unexpected, and it creates music that's endlessly fascinating.

Part of the allure is that the songs of Aaron Chapman and John Bowers-the cosmic troubadours and longtime best friends behind NURSES-are in a constant state of motion, as if they're evolving while you listen.

"Apple's Acre" is a record full of dysfunctional, hushed love, laced with elegance and grace and without angst and regret.

But the plain courage of their songs is the secret ingredient that's already turning heads and blowing minds all over the Northwest-and if you think about it, in pop music, courage is always at a premium.