***The turn of the century was heady times. The thought of how an underground power/pop/punk band should exist in the aftermath of the Green Day Nineties was a proposal that hung heavy with apprehension, confusion and bewilderment. While a difficult construct to navigate, this is the unlikely Portland, Oregon setting we see the Exploding Hearts erupt from. Drawing spiritual inspiration from the likes of the Buzzcocks, Undertones, and Nick Lowe, the attitude and implied delinquency of the Exploding Hearts was more in line with that of au courant Naughties Warped Tour line-ups. The band also considered themselves peers with the scuzzier side of “The” rock bands at the top of the 2000s. The intersection between Detroit garage punk, Goner Records and the shelves at Hot Topic is a seldom tread land, but it was fertile with potential. With ten undeniable songs clocking in at just 28 minutes, the Hearts' indisputably essential Guitar Romantic operated as the punk rock equivalent of Ernest Hemingway’s writing: Nothing extraneous, simple, straightforward, to the point, deserving of no additional flourish or accoutrement, with every creative decision pushing forward the work as a whole. Arguably, perfect. The album immediately felt strong. It felt classic. It felt…destined for bigger things. Yet barely three months after its domestic release, with momentum building and Lookout! Records sniffing around, band members Jeremy Gage, Adam Cox and Matt Fitzgerald, all barely in their twenties, would die in a tragic van accident that ended the band. The intervening two decades has found...
LP $30.45
06/02/2023
***Available again on LP!!! The latest in 1970s-styled power pop rocking from Portland, Oregon rave-ups EXPLODING HEARTS. Blending the songwriting charm and guitars of early Brit pop bands like the Undertones and The Jam, the romance of pop legends like Nick Lowe, the energy and attitude of power pop/punk bands like Buzzcocks and the Boys, and the beat and soul of the early Motown and Stax combos, the band gives-it-up with foot-stomping beats, great songwriting, and killer Rickenbacker guitar riffs.
LP $17.50
02/26/2007
CD $12.00
05/16/2005