La Sera

La Sera is the solo project of Vivian Girls’ bass player Katy Goodman. During time off from her main band, Goodman sent some song demos to her friend Brady Hall (who had directed and produced videos for Vivian Girls). He recorded the songs and had Goodman come in to track the vocals. The chemistry between the two proves to be amazing. Goodman’s gauzy singing floats over her own dreamy sounding self-harmonies underneath which Hall provides an elegantly minimal approach to composition. There’s a tasteful harkening back to ‘50s malt-shop bop in the following “Never Come Around,” a confectionary morsel of pop perfection where Hall approximates a bygone Brill Building foundation with a modern indie approach. The infectiously jangly “Sleeptalking” recalls Andrew Loog Oldham’s early collaborations with Vashti Bunyan. Conducive to shorter attention spans, Goodman and Hall exercise tasteful brevity throughout La Sera. No song reaches the three-minute mark and the bookending “Lift Off” teases with one minute and five seconds of easy-on-the-ears girl-group pop, leaving the listener wanting more.