Alternative Rock, Indie Rock
2005
Juliana Hatfield's 'Spin the Bottle' was one of the few contemporary '90s tracks to worm its way into the soundtrack for Reality Bites alongside more traditional Gen X rock fare from U2 and Dinosaur Jr. A few LPs later, in a possible fit of boredom, she'd switch things up dramatically by putting out a double album in the vein of Use Your Illusion I and II, with her trademark semi-acoustic pop-rock appearing on Beautiful Creature and a nasty, messy rawk scree on its companion disc titled Total System Failure. Half a decade later, Giant Drag thought to themselves, 'why don't we do that, but y'know, on a single disc'?.
Joining the fray of 2000s female-fronted fuzzy alt-rock bands (Blonde Redhead, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Kills), the Annie Hardy-fronted Hearts and Unicorns favours a sound faithful to the swirly '90s slacker-rock of Helium and Velocity Girl. The Juliana Hatfield comparisons feel apt on 'Cordial Invitation', which replaces the electric fuzz on the version recorded on the Lemona EP for a haunting acoustic guitar. 'Everything's Worse' is similar with a naively innocent lullaby melody with the guitar overdrive turned off as Hardy sings "I can't decide / Which is more stupid, your heart or your mind".
The core of the band's sound however comes through best when they switch to Total System Failure mode, throwing out the coy melodies in favour of loud and grungy, Dirty-era Sonic Youth riffs. 'High Friends in Places' and 'My Dick Sux' are great dumb fun, with levels of fuzzed-out guitar crunch that're layered like a Deep 'n Delicious cake. Opener 'Kevin is Gay' is a silly punk-pop head-bopper and 'Pretty Little Neighbour' turns the distortion levels back up, closing with a satisfying hum of amplifier feedback.
While the record feels pretty one-note overall, two songs do stand out. The wistful single 'This Isn't It' is a driving rock tune that relies more on emotion rather than scuzzy feedback, and is topped only by the closing track 'Slayer', which strips back the overdrive to reveal vulnerability amid the heartbreak, and captures the deep hurt of missing someone. The whispered vocals of "..if this is what you need, then I'll leave" and just-right guitar fuzz levels remind me of Sonic Youth's atmospheric cover of the Carpenters' 'Superstar'. I play it at least a couple of times each year.
