“Still got your trash in my car,” Annie Hardy coos sweetly, “minus that old garbage heart. Take no offense when I say that I prefer it that way.” The song, from last year's Waking Up Is Hard to Do, perfectly encapsulates the local band's range and potential. “Garbage Heart” starts out charmingly, with Hardy's girl-group melody wending its way delicately through gauzy, cloudy chords before the tune suddenly downshifts into a thunderously stormy hail of distorted guitars. It's that precious contrast between melodicism and grungy drive that has made Giant Drag one of this city's most thrilling alt-rock groups. The band has been lying low recently, so it's refreshing and energizing to see Hardy – Giant Drag's one constant member – toss out the trash and rearm herself with a new lineup and sense of purpose.

Wed., May 14, 8 p.m., 2014
(Expired: 05/14/14)

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