Since she started making records on her own under the name
La Sera, ex-
Vivian Girls member
Katy Goodman has refined and revamped her sound from record to record, starting with the deeply reverbed girl-group approach of the debut
La Sera album, then adding some snappy garage punk to
Sees the Light, and a little bit of power pop gloss to
Hour of the Dawn. On the fourth
La Sera album,
Music for Listening to Music To, she's turned the basically solo project into a duo affair, officially adding her husband
Todd Wisenbaker to the lineup. He had already served as guitarist and producer on
Hour of the Dawn, but now he's a true partner, providing vocals, writing some of the songs, and playing guitar. Along with this change comes a drastic musical shift from garagey pop to twangy country. The duo handed the production duties over to
Ryan Adams, ditched almost all the guitar noise, and dug deep into some dusty Americana. Some of the album jangles like big-haired '80s college rock, some of it gambols about rambunctiously like a good-natured
X. A few tracks have a little bit of girl-group drama or garage pop strut, but with both
Goodman and
Wisenbaker singing, it sounds like a different band, countrified and far less punk. ~ Tim Sendra