What a drag it is being alone

Annie Hardy is now alone as Giant Drag, she confirmed this week. The singer-guitarist for the L.A. shoegazer two-piece says that collaborator Micah Calabrese -- who played drums and keyboards (often at the same time) -- has left the band just as Hardy prepares to record a new album.

"I am pretty bummed," Hardy says. "I knew from the beginning that being in a band was not necessarily his dream, but [because] we were best friends he kind of did it for me. I think he got to the point that he just got tired of it ... the touring, not making money ..."

Calabrese's distinctive playing -- he delivered the song's bass lines by playing a small keyboard with his left hand while drumming with his right -- along with Hardy's distortion-fueled guitar gave Giant Drag a bigger sound than you'd expect from a two-piece. Memorable among the duo's performances was a set at last year's Coachella, when Calabrese was confounded by a loose connection on his keyboard and soldiered through the set with Giant Drag's tour manager onstage, holding a cable in place.

"I felt kind of unsure whether I should continue as Giant Drag," Hardy says. "Micah contributed a lot. But they are my songs and I came up with the name."

Hardy aims to begin recording the follow-up to 2005's "Hearts and Unicorns" (released on Interscope imprint Kickball) in mid-February. She says she'll be working in New York City with Mike Musmanno, who has produced L.A. rockers the Icarus Line.

◊ ◊ ◊

Tonight's touts: The BellRays at Safari-Sam's; Cold War Kids at the Silverlake Lougne (sold out); I See Hawks in L.A. and Mike Stinson at the Echo; Keller Williams at the Fonda Theatre; Hotel Cafe six-year anniversary show with, among others, Jay Nash, Buddy, Charlotte martin, Jim Bianco and Cary Brothers.

Also: Poo-Bah Records, the label spun off from the Pasadena record store, is throwing a one-night stand at the L.A.C.E. Gallery in Hollywood. It's a record-release party for three artists, and will include DJ sets, live screenprinting and visual installations. Doors at 7:30.

Photo: Annie Hardy during Giant Drag's Coachella set last April (Kevin Bronson/LAT)