Giant Drag

SOUND A heavenly mixture of My Bloody Valentine, the Breeders and Liz Phair -- although Hardy, 24, says her favorite musicians are Neil Young, the Beatles, and Hall and Oates. The catchy "This Isn't It" is about a "shitty boyfriend," Hardy says. She wrote it at her parents' house on the way to rehearsal. "It's one of those songs that came to me all the way through -- it just came out like explosive diarrhea."

WARPED CORE Did we mention Hardy's bent sense of humor? The chorus of the single "Kevin Is Gay" consists solely of the word "meow," and the grinding "YFLMD" stands for "You fuck like my dad." "Sometimes people take me seriously," Hardy says, adding, "They think I'm a real asshole."

CHRISMUKKAH ALERT "I grew up in the city furthest south in the O.C., next to the nuclear-power plant," says Hardy. Shockingly, life there is not like the TV show: "We were all super-bored middle-class kids. Everybody goes surfing or gets into drugs." Does she surf? "Hell, no!"

LOOK FOR Hearts and Unicorns, out this month.