Giant Drag

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Giant Drag

Origin	California, USA
Years active	2003–present
Genres	Indie Rock
Labels	Kickball Records
Members	Annie Hardy

Giant Drag is an Indie rock duo from California, composed of singer/guitarist Annie Hardy and drummer/synth-player, Micah Calabrese (from 2003 through to 2006). On 5th December 2006 it was reported that he had left the band. ^[1] Giant Drag has released an EP, Lemona, in 2003 and their debut album, Hearts and Unicorns, which was released in the United States on September 13, 2005, and February 27, 2006 in the UK.

Calabrese originally had a job working alongside Hardy's mother, and after repeated failed attempts by Hardy's mother to get the two future bandmates to meet, the two ended up meeting through mutual friends anyway and began playing and recording music together. ^[2] Giant Drag played their first show on June 4, 2003 at The Scene in Los Angeles, eventually getting residencies at area clubs Silverlake Lounge and Spaceland. ^[3]

Their sound has been described by several music publications as "nü-grunge" (known as post-grunge in the United States). The band have also been compared to bands such as My Bloody Valentine, The Breeders, PJ Harvey, and Mazzy Star^[4] although the band does not completely agree with some of the comparisons and Hardy has shown herself to be especially averse to Breeders comparisons. ^[5]^[3] It is suggested by Hardy ^[3] and another journalist ^[6] that most articles that have been written about them are re-wordings of Giant Drag's press pack (which also compared them to such bands).

The pair considered recruiting a bassist, but Hardy recalls: "Just as a joke Micah started playing the bass parts on a synthesizer with his left hand and the drums with his right hand. We laughed. We said, 'Wait, it's funny, but it works.'"^[3] Calabrese described his unusual technique of playing drums and synth simultaneously in an interview: "Usually it's a long sustain on the notes. Hit a note and play the drums and then hit another note. Unless it's a bass line that doesn't lend itself to sustaining, then I'll just have to keep one hand on the keyboard and one hand on the drums."^[7]

Their song titles, which are known for their bluntness and black humour, include "Kevin Is Gay," "My Dick Sux," "High Friends in Places," and "YFLMD" - an acronym for "You Fuck Like My Dad". Live performances have been notable for Hardy's monologues in-between songs while Calabrese set up his synthesizer^[3], as well as hecklers in the audience asking Hardy to show her breasts to which Annie often says something back. ^[2] During performances in 2006 the duo covered Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game." Hardy jokingly introduced the song by telling a variation on the basic story that she wrote the song for Chris Isaak when she was 8, and that he stole it from her after sexually abusing her, and that she saw him years later on MTV singing "her" song "rolling around in the sand with some hooker."^[8]^[9]

Giant Drag have a growing cult following, largely due to their live shows, including shows supporting The Like, Scissor Sisters, Pretty Girls Make Graves, and The Cribs, and were tipped by the NME for "big things in 2006". They also performed in the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2006. Annie Hardy can also be heard on the song "Pink Cellphone" from the 2006 Deftones album entitled "Saturday Night Wrist".