Skip to main contentA 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 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.
Blue Skies For Black Hearts, "Throwaway Style"
âBeing into the Exploding Hearts before July of 2003 was like being in on a secret. They were in transit from being the best band to play Monday nights at the Satyricon to possibly being, in my mind, as big as the Beatles. It might have happened, but time was cut short for Adam, Jeremy and Matt. They now remain frozen in time while Terry, Louie and I continue on, every day getting a little more wrinkled, a little more gray and a little fatter. I'm so happy that their music has lived on.ââ Pat Kearns, Blue Skies for Black Hearts and Guitar Romantic producer.
WWeek 2015