Katy Goodman, a/k/a Kickball Katy of Vivian Girls, is on the verge of releasing her least optimistic-sounding solo album yet as La Sera, and I couldn’t be more stoked. Until now, with a few exceptions, Goodman always channeled her untroubled, blithe vocals into the relaxed nooks of surf rock, doo-wop and dream pop. Fittingly, Goodman says that for this album that she wanted to sound like “Lesley Gore fronting Black Flag.” It’s her party and she can rage if she wants to.

“Losing To The Dark” starts with a raucous grind of feedback that sounds more like a rail car braking than a guitar. Goodman’s familiarly dulcet voice sounds markedly more sinister than any single track off her first album as La Sera, and it’s easy to imagine her in the sweaty recording studio where she cut Hour of the Dawn, wearing all black and smashing her bass into utter submission. There is no halcyon haze here; there is only the shredding, grating distortion of REALITY, ripping your face into all the pieces. But like, you know, in a good way.

If you like what you hear, then you can head here to take a listen to all of La Sera’s third album a wee bit early. Hour of the Dawn drops on May 13 via Hardly Art.