LA SERA @ Echo

8:30pm / $10adv; $12dos / 18+

Cymbals Eat Guitars || Listen || Watch
Cymbals Eat Guitars are an indie rock band from Staten Island, New York, United States, who formed in 2005. They consist of Joseph Ferocious (vocals, guitar), Matthew Whipple (bass, vocals), Brian Hamilton (keyboards, vocals) and Matthew Miller (drums). They have released one album, “Why There Are Mountains”, which has received glowing reviews since its January 2009 release.

Hooray For Earth || Listen || Watch
By the time the 2010 EP Momo came out, Hooray For Earth frontman Noel Heroux had transformed the band’s sound from straightforward guitar/keyboard pop (heard on 2006’s self-released debut) to the full-on electroclash revival popularized by Passion Pit and MGMT. The spacey “Surrounded By Your Friends” garnered Internet attention with its pulsing beat and epic chorus, but didn’t feel like it was breaking any new ground. On True Loves, Heroux has upped the bombast considerably from the Momo blueprint. It’s a relentlessly heavy record, with synths densely layered atop deep basslines that rumble like an earthquake; Heroux’s etheric vocals, meanwhile, soar in airy chants and harmonies for a strange, otherworldly contrast. Pounding percussion gives it all a racing momentum, utilizing rapid, tribal-like rhythms. The album’s best tracks are front-loaded, beginning with the eerie, shadowy “Realize It’s Not The Sun” and flowing into the relatively bright “Last Minute.” By the time the outstanding title track comes around—featuring an echoing reggae beat, subwoofer-shattering bass, and a sprinkling of blips and beeps—True Loves trembles with a gripping tension that isn’t released until the drifting closer “Black Trees.” It’s fair to say that Hooray For Earth is a relative latecomer to the indie synth-rock party, but it certainly makes for an interesting guest.A.V. Club

LA SERA || LISTEN || Watch
Since joining all-female punk trio Vivian Girls during the spring of 2007 Katy Goodman’s DIY-style bass playing and drifty-faded vocals have sent waves of adoration rippling throughout Brooklyn’s pop punk circuit. Her newest band La Sera showcases her signature style, bringing her talent for creating dreamy pop songs even more to the forefront. La Sera just finished a west coast tour and had a smashing time at CMJ.

After touring the world with Vivian Girls, releasing a handful of well-received records, and starting record label Wild World with her band mates, Goodman started exploring other outlets. She played in the short-lived dream-pop band All Saints Day in the spring of 2010, and a self-titled limited-edition 7” of spectral tunes was released on indie label Art Fag earlier this year.

In February 2010 Goodman started working on some fresh material that inspired the formation of her brand new band, La Sera. Her inspiration sprung from an attraction to early pop hits from the 1950’s and ethereal choral vocals. Her new songs contain warm celestial-pop melodies that echo with the dreamlike effect of a church choir and effuse a softer, less aggressive sound than the Vivian Girls.

Recording with a tambourine, guitar, and layers upon layers of heavenly vocals, she started sending her songs to filmmaker/music producer Brady Hall (the director of Vivian Girls videos “Moped Girls” and “When I’m Gone”), who immediately wanted to collaborate and dove into re-recording her rough material himself. After hearing his finished work, Katy flew to Seattle and the two recorded all the vocals, mixed the songs and filmed two La Sera music videos at Brady’s home studio.

The eponymous La Sera is the result of these sessions. With a dozen fresh tracks, La Sera muses on death, love, and love lost within the span of two minute choiral pop blisters. The phantasmic quality of Goodman’s voice takes hold of the contradictorily upbeat “You’re Going to Cry,” while “Dove Into Love” seems to send time into drifting slow motion, enveloped by a wave of guitar strums. The lilting and delicate “Hold,” meanwhile, tells the story of two people hugging each other to death. Hardly Art will release the full-length in early 2011, preceded by the limited 7” for “Never Come Around” out today.Ground Control