It’s funny when you think about it. Phil Spector took the cream of session musicians and a substantial recording budget into the world famous (and long departed) Gold Star studios and developed the “Wall of Sound”. Now it seems that every grrrl group, or approximation thereto, maxes out the lo-fi reverb to achieve that same sonic result. So, La Sera - Vivian Girls’ Katy Goodman’s new side project – duly turn it up and go swirling off into the past.
I’m not complaining though, as their self titled album is not short on charm and even manages to evoke the kind of innocence that pop music had back in the day. “Devils Hearts Grow Gold”, for example, sounds just like it has made a successful assault on the charts of 1962 with its interweaved female vocals, fuzzy guitar and echoing drums. “Beating Heart” on the other hand sounds like one of Richard Gottehrer's seventies pastiches of the girl group genre.
The most important thing here however is that you would have to have a very cold heart indeed not to be charmed – yes, charmed is the right word – by this album. Every song might follow the same path but that is a journey that you soon want to make.
Vinyl mastering looks to have been by California’s Golden Mastering and a nice clean job they have done. No problems with the pressing either.
As albums go, La Sera’s album is cuter than a fringe and that’s a fact.