Giant Drag – Hearts and Unicorns

Los Angeles duo just wants to have fun

Most people get hooked on rock music because it’s fun. So why don’t more bands seem like they’re having a good time when they play it? On Giant Drag’s website, there’s an Instant Message-conversation biography alleging that the band’s first song was Journey’s “Who’s Crying Now.” Perhaps predictably then, this debut backs the easygoing vibe with a deluge of shoegazey guitars and Annie Hardy’s innocently seductive vocals. Occasionally, the good times go too far, like during the nine minutes of scatterbrained racket that ends the album on “Untitled.” But even then, it sounds like a bunch of kids shouting and banging gleefully on homemade instruments. And what could be more fun than that?