Serpentina's sophomore effort,
Planeando en Tu Azotea, offers another round of delightfully eclectic indie pop. This Spanish brother-sister duo sounds like a sweet, sparkly reconfiguration of any number of easy listening artists from the late '60s and early '70s -- in a way, listening to
Planeando en Tu Azotea is the equivalent of an afternoon spent digging through rummage sale records, minus the grubby fingers. "Dos o Tres Meses," with its cool Latin percussion, flute solos, and florid vocal harmonies immediately brings to mind
Sergio Mendes & Brazil '66, and the irrepressibly bright and bouncy "El Universo" gives a heavy nod to
the New Seekers. The list goes on -- in the span of 12 tiny tunes,
Serpentina manage to sound like
Chad & Jeremy,
Donovan,
White Shoes & the Couples Company, and
Yann Tiersen (especially on "No Se Por Que"). And in spite of being perfect mockingbirds,
Serpentina manage to evoke the easy listening bands of the past without sounding overtly gimmicky.
Planeando en Tu Azotea's only shortcoming is that it's really, well, short -- clocking in at just over 25 minutes, this disc is just a hop, skip, and a jump from being an EP. A good number of the tracks on this disc feel like little introductions -- TV theme songs or jingles -- and many barely scrape past the two-minute mark. Sometimes it's good to keep things short and sweet, but there are a few spots on
Planeando that feel like they're just not fully realized -- "Que Desilusion" and "No Se Por Que," addictive as they are, are the chief offenders here. This is a small quibble, though, and fans and newcomers alike will likely find more than enough retro-licious indie pop goodness on this dainty disc. ~ Margaret Reges