Hearts and Unicorns

Hearts and Unicorns was recorded at Dirty Little Studios and Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California in 2005. Regarding "Kevin Is Gay", Annie Hardy stated: "Kevin is just a guy though, the song is nothing to do with him. But this guy, a friend of ours, hacked into our website, so it's a response to him. We posted up on there, 'Kevin, stop posting all this stupid crap on our website. Come and see us tomorrow when we'll be debuting our new song "Kevin is Gay"'. And the title just stuck."{{cite web|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060629220349/http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/03/09/093103.php|url=http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/03/09/093103.php|archive-date=June 29, 2006|title=Interview - Giant Drag|last=Deamer|first=Jonathan|date=March 9, 2006|work=BlogCritics.org}}

Hardy said in an interview that the clip at the beginning of the track is her imitating the sound of the shoryuken special move from the Street Fighter series of arcade games.

{{Music ratings

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r787564|pure_url=yes}}|title=Hearts and Unicorns - Giant Drag|website=AllMusic|access-date=December 16, 2022}}

|rev2 = NME

|rev2score = {{Rating|7|10}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/giant-drag/7869|title=Album Ratings: Giant Drag: Hearts And Unicorns|magazine=NME|access-date=December 15, 2022}}

|rev3 = Pitchfork Media

|rev3score = (6.8/10)

|rev4 = Rolling Stone

|rev4score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/giant-drags-unicorns-gets-wicked-100380/|magazine=Rolling Stone|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20221216050652/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/giant-drags-unicorns-gets-wicked-100380/|archive-date=December 16, 2022|last=Lash|first=Jolie|title=Giant Drag's "Unicorns" Gets Wicked|date=31 March 2006 }}

}}

Jason Crock of Pitchfork awarded the album a 6.8 out of 10 rating, noting: "All these silly song titles and nearly frightening studio patter scratch the surface of something, the way the snippets on a record like Surfer Rosa add another layer of inscrutability, but monochromatic guitars overwhelm the album and mute the few moments of quirk."{{cite web|work=Pitchfork|title=Giant Drag: Hearts and Unicorns|date=September 29, 2005|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/3685-hearts-and-unicorns/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120713173018/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/3685-hearts-and-unicorns/|archive-date=July 13, 2012|last=Crock|first=Jason}}

The Independent{{'}}s Luiza Sauman awarded the album four out of five stars, describing it as a "heavenly, potty-mouthed mixture of My Bloody Valentine, Nirvana, and The Breeders...  some songs you can give or take, but their promise always shines through."{{cite news|work=The Independent|page=106|last=Sauman|first=Luiza|date=February 26, 2006|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114698793/|via=Newspapers.com|title=Giant Drag – Hearts and Unicorns}} Sinéad Gleeson of The Irish Times also awarded the album four out of five stars, comparing it favorably to the work of Throwing Muses, My Bloody Valentine, and Mazzy Star, noting that the songs "view the rubbish heap of modern life through a distorted, shoegazing lens. Hardy sings, chain-smokes, plays guitar and bass, and writes the cruel, damaged-goods lyrics."{{cite news|last=Gleeson|first=Sinéad|title=POP/ROCK|date=March 6, 2006|url-status=live|newspaper=The Irish Times|archive-url=https://archive.today/20221103030817/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/pop-rock-1.1023456|archive-date=November 3, 2022|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/pop-rock-1.1023456}} A review published in The Daily Telegraph likened the album to the works of PJ Harvey, adding: "Giant Drag, shockingly but mainly pleasingly, are not just another pair of too-cool-for-school LA rock kids. Nor are they vacuous provocateurs. They're imaginative and playful."{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114698976/|via=Newspapers.com|title=Giant Drag|date=February 25, 2006|page=170|work=The Daily Telegraph}}

David Smyth of the Evening Standard gave the album a middling review, awarding it three out of five stars, noting that "Hardy has a way with an effects pedal and a wicked tongue...  tracks such as "My Dick Sux" continue to give a false impression of the beauty within, although the exquisite "This Isn't It" suggests that when Hardy grows up she might write something really special."{{cite news|page=A35|date=February 24, 2006|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114698888/|last=Smyth|first=David|work=Evening Standard|via=Newspapers.com|title=Giant Drag: Hearts and Unicorns}}

Alternative radio station 97X ranked the album at number 48 in a list of the 97 best albums of 2005.{{cite news|work=Dayton Daily News|title=97X Weighs In On the Year in Music|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114699078/|via=Newspapers.com|date=January 20, 2006|page=7}} Dispatch-Argus journalist Sean Leary also included the album in his list of the best albums of the year.{{cite news|work=The Dispatch|title=Listen to 'Silent Alarm': It's the year's best album|last=Leary|first=Sean|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114699157/|page=9|date=December 29, 2005|via=Newspapers.com}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Hearts and Unicorns{{nobold| – Standard edition}}

| all_writing = Giant Drag, except where noted

| title1 = Kevin is Gay

| length1 = 3:02

| title2 = Cordial Invitation

| length2 = 2:59

| title3 = This Isn't It

| length3 = 3:03

| title4 = YFLMD

| note4 = "You Fuck Like My Dad"

| length4 = 2:50

| title5 = Pretty Little Neighbor

| length5 = 3:20

| title6 = Blunt Picket Fence

| length6 = 2:50

| title7 = High Friends in Places

| length7 = 3:10

| title8 = You're Full of Shit (Check Out My Sweet Riffs)

| length8 = 2:46

| title9 = Everything's Worse

| length9 = 2:59

| title10 = My Dick Sux

| length10 = 3:48

| title11 = Smashing

| length11 = 4:11

| title12 = Slayer

| length12 = 5:00

| writer12 = Joe Cardamone

| title13 = Untitled

| note13 = hidden track

| length13 = 9:03

| total_length = 49:01

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Hearts and Unicorns{{nobold| – United Kingdom release and 2006 U.S. re-pressing}}

| title1 = Kevin is Gay

| length1 = 3:02

| title2 = Cordial Invitation

| length2 = 2:59

| title3 = This Isn't It

| length3 = 3:03

| title4 = YFLMD

| note4 = "You Fuck Like My Dad"

| length4 = 2:50

| title5 = Pretty Little Neighbor

| length5 = 3:20

| title6 = Blunt Picket Fence

| length6 = 2:50

| title7 = High Friends in Places

| length7 = 3:10

| title8 = You're Full of Shit (Check Out My Sweet Riffs)

| length8 = 2:46

| title9 = Everything's Worse

| length9 = 2:59

| title10 = My Dick Sux

| length10 = 3:48

| title11 = Smashing

| length11 = 4:11

| title12 = Slayer

| length12 = 5:00

| writer12 = Joe Cardamone

| title13= Wicked Game

| writer13 = Chris Isaak

| length13 = 4:15

| title14 = Untitled

| note14 = hidden track

| length14 = 9:03

| total_length = 53:16

}}

All personnel credits adapted from the album's liner notes.{{cite AV media notes|title=Hearts and Unicorns|others=Giant Drag|year=2006|type=CD|publisher=Kickball Records|id=9852026}}

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

Giant Drag

• Annie Hardy{{spaced ndash}}lead vocals, guitar {{small|(1–11)}}, bass {{small|(9, 11)}}
• Micah Calabrese{{spaced ndash}}drums, synthesizer, guitar {{small|(1, 4, 7, 10)}}

Guest musicians

• Joe Cardamone{{spaced ndash}} guitar {{small|(2, 12)}}, backing vocals {{small|(2)}}
• Louis Castle{{spaced ndash}}guitar {{small|(3)}}, organ {{small|(6)}}, trumpet {{small|(6)}}, backing vocals {{small|(9–11)}}
• Alvin DeGuzman{{spaced ndash}}guitar {{small|(12)}}
• Don Devore{{spaced ndash}}bass {{small|(1, 4–5, 8, 12)}}
• Daniel Holden{{spaced ndash}}bass {{small|(6)}}
• Gabe Garnicka{{spaced ndash}}slide bass {{small|(6)}}, guitar {{small|(5, 11)}}, lap steel {{small|(9)}}
• Sandra Vu{{spaced ndash}}flute

{{col-2}}

Engineering

• James Barian{{spaced ndash}}production, bass {{small|(3, 10)}}
• Alan Yoshida{{spaced ndash}}mastering
• Ryan Castle{{spaced ndash}}production {{small|(13)}}
• Dave Sardy{{spaced ndash}}production {{small|(13)}}

Art personnel

• Annie Hardy{{spaced ndash}}art direction, illustrations
• Dan Monick{{spaced ndash}}art direction, photography
• Wendy Higgs{{spaced ndash}}A&R

{{col-end}}

{{reflist|30em}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Giant Drag}}

Category:2005 debut albums

Category:Giant Drag albums

Category:Interscope Records albums