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A decade ago next week, Portland's Exploding Hearts released Guitar Romantic, a near-perfect power-pop album now considered among the classics of the genre. Although the group's career ended tragically less than four months later, the great, brief burst of music it left behind remains a vital influence on an entire generation of bands. To commemorate the album's 10-year anniversary, Willamette Week partnered with Generator and Pabst Blue Ribbon and asked six young Portland artists to cover the record in full. Over the next week, we will be premiering exclusive videos of those bands performing all 10 songs from Guitar Romantic at Southeast Portland's Green Noise Records, home to Dirtnap Records, the label that released the album in America.
The No Tomorrow Boys, "Sleeping Aides & Razor Blades"
âItâs 4:35 AM on a Friday night. Iâm a little stoned and Iâm still listening to the Exploding Hearts. Seriously, I love this band. Great musicianship, songwritingâIâm down. Personally, it reminds me of 2008 the most. I was living in Tahoe and listening to Guitar Romantic a lot that summer driving around South Lake and getting wasted at Whiskey Dicks. GR had already been out for three years, when I first heard of them. And I found out by way of a cover believe it or not. Friends of mine from back home in Chicago, The Downtown Struts covered 'Throwaway Styleâ' and that was my introduction.â âJimmy B., The No Tomorrow Boys
WWeek 2015