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Gig Review

La Sera / Eamon McGrath
Bixton Windmill

Article written by Paul M - Nov 27, 2010

La Sera

La Sera is Katy Goodman, the Elizabeth Walton lookalike bassist from Brooklyn’s the Vivian Girls, and a couple of chums. Unfortunately, in a rather unusual case of over exposure their UK tour includes a remarkable six different London venue dates. While this give us all more chance of catching what promises to be a decent band live, it also means there’s less of a rush to see them at any one event. Inevitably, while the hipster joints of East London will be sold out, packed with scenesters with little or no interest in the band (“I’m only here because everyone else is here” is the unsaid truth), South London’s wonderful Windmill is disappointingly half empty tonight.

Rather like the other Vivians spin-off, Frankie Rose & the Outs, there’s a whole boxload of 60s Spector influences on show - a fairly faithful rendition Dedicated to the One I Love, a particular highlight and proof of Goodman’s excellent singing ability - but there’s also lashings of fuzzy indiepop too, to keep it all very contemporary. Unfortunately there are amp issues that almost end the performance one track in. It results in a ten minute break and means that the band only get into their rhythm right at the end, sadly. Maybe it’s lucky that there are another five London dates to catch them after all…

Canada’s Eamon McGrath pops up twice tonight as support. In the first, he’s the pogoing jack in a box riff machine accompanying his colleague’s vocals. In this five piece form they only deliver four tracks, all bombastic Springsteen style stadium rockers but while they may lack The Boss’s trademark lyrical observations, musically it’s enjoyable enough. Unfortunately following a break and the shedding of one band member, they return, this time with McGrath on lead vocals – imagine Tom Waits shitting glass and you get an idea of what these sound like. He tries to win us over with tales of passport problems and injuries (he’s got a sprained jaw and lost some teeth though his accent is too strong for me to work out how it happened) but the flying kicks can’t mask the awfulness of the Midwest rock that underpins the set. Still the fella’s not short of confidence so I don’t suppose one so-so review in a lickle indie schmindie webzine will bother him too much.

Links:
http://www.myspace.com/iamkatygoodman