“Kickball Katy” Goodman is perhaps best known for her work with Brooklyn lo-fi queens Vivian Girls, but on Sees the Light, her sophomore solo effort as La Sera, she shows off a softer side that’s more croquet than kickball. Album opener “Love That’s Gone” is a lilting, ’90s-style ballad full of melodic guitar lines and sweet, distortion-free vocals. “I Can’t Keep You in My Mind” is a heartfelt anthem to losing interest, while “Please Be My Third Eye” is a poppy, upbeat jam perfect for beachside dance parties. On “Real Boy”—which includes adorable lyrics like “you’ll be my guy and we’ll travel through time”—Goodman channels O.G. girl groups like the Shangri-Las and the Ronettes. But all this lovesick crooning isn’t without some dark undertones. The heavy “Drive On” finds Goodman pleading with someone to “drive off the edge with me.” OK, Katy—so long as we can blast Sees the Light while we pull a Thelma and Louise.
