Every Thursday, Pop Addict presents infectious tunes from contemporary musicians across indie rock, pop, folk, electronica, and more.
La Sera: La Sera (Hardly Art, 2/15/10)
La Sera: “Devils Hearts Grow Gold”
[audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/LS_DevilsHeartsGrowGold.mp3|titles=La Sera: “Devils Hearts Grow Gold”]Fans of the noisy, riotous punk delivered by Brooklyn-based band Vivian Girls will find that La Sera — the solo project of bassist Katy “Kickball Katy” Goodman — explores decidedly softer terrain. More ’50s-era pop than riot grrrl, Goodman’s eponymous debut as La Sera exudes ethereal lushness.
Known primarily for her high-pitched backing vocals on Vivian Girls’ records, Goodman takes this opportunity to showcase a sweet singing voice through layered, heavenly vocals set to simple, clean guitar strumming. The result is a charming, dream-pop response to the hot buzz of Vivian Girls’ records. And though the songs began as simple guitar-and-tambourine demos, with the help of Brady Hall (director of Vivian Girls’ videos “Moped Girls” and “When I’m Gone”) Goodman was able to flesh the material out into tempered harmonies and celestial choral arrangements.