| MAXIMUM ROCK AND ROLL Exploding Hearts -(Making) Teenage Faces - 7" Hands down best single of 2002. This is what i call a classic record. Perfectly done power pop with bitter sweet lyrics and catchy as fuck music delivered by portlands newest darlings. the EXPLODING HEARTS serve up two well crafted and brilliantly delivered gems. The title track is fun romp through a high-school-school-gone-to-hell day dream ("Jennys poppin' birth control and still wearing braces, we're too busy making teenage faces","Someone shot the principal in the head, school is out forever and we're glad that hes dead") Not since "Schools' out forever" have i been this impressed with a post-adolescents final fuck you to the school system and highshool's boredom. the flip side offers "Your Shadow", the dark and in your face ode to lost love. the EXPLODING HEARTS are one of the only bands worth listening to right now. Sleazy, dirty, candy ballads and mescaline induced teen angst with a whiskey Slurpee chaser, the HEARTS are your new favorite band. Eat it up. BM |
| NOW WAVE Exploding Hearts-(Making) Teenage Faces - Single The fact that Portland, Oregon's Exploding Hearts seem to be the toast of the underground rock world these days can only mean one thing: there are alot of people out there with damn good taste! Amen! the Exploding Hearts mayb be the Now Wave dream band. They are the kind of group that i would have formed years ago if i had any musical talet whatsoever. They take classic new wave power pop and mix it straight up with 70s style punk--and the blend comes out just right! Unlike many so-called "power pop" bands these guys are just as much about power as the are pop. Take the sunny melodies and infectious choruses of pure pop and play it with the balls and drive of hard-edged rock'n'roll: THAT is what the power pop genre is SUPPOSED to be about (but rarely actually is). the Exploding Hearts do it right. Their buzzsaw rock candy tunes recall the sugar-rush snot-pop of the DICKIES and the sublime solo work of STIV BATORS, adding punk rock guts and attitude to the standard power pop formula--yet not skimping on the hooks, harmonies, and to-die-for melodies! Thats MY kind of music, man: a BUBBLE GUM ATOMIC BOMB! These boys will rock you hard yet sooth your senses with catchiest, most ear-pleasing noise known to man. The Bands debut single on Vinyl Warning records is the kind of record that every pop single should aspire to be: a twin fun load that delivers and infectious A side hit with a devestaing B side smash. No filler, No bullshit: just two killer tunes that will make you want to spin all night as you dance around your room likea giddy maniac! "(Making) Teenage Faces" is pure power pop bliss, a catchy, bouncy, hi-energy instant classic wit ha drop dead amazing chorus. Whoa! The flip side number , the eeire "Your Shadow", picks up the pace a bit, ripping out of the gates with fierce, frantic punk rock ferocity ala second DEAD BOYS LP. What a contrast--yet both songs are equally great! Thats QUALITY, pal. What can I say? If you dont like the Exploding Hearts, you've got bad taste, poor judgment, bad breath and serious mental problems. (RUTLEDGE) |
| TABLET NEWSPAPER the Exploding Hearts "Guitar Romantic" LP Screaming Apple Records Hot damn, this is one white hot LP! The term "power-pop" is sure thrown around with alarming innacuracy these days these days, huh? I don't even pay attention too much anymore because i can't afford to drop ten bucks all the time on yet another lame So-Cal sounding cheese fest. Well the Exploding Hearts are FUCKING IT! This is hands down the best true power pop band kicking it out. They know their business and get it right in so many ways that i am truely floored by the results. This ain't no 1,000 mile an hour punk band masquerading as "pop" because of a few backing vocals. This is the real deal and they are just as good or better than any of their influences. Some great ideas in the mix here: they are as much NICK LOWE as they are BUZZCOCKS and they are just as good as any of em'. I might throw in a really (really really) poppy GENERATION X comparison as well. This is a real album, as well. Ten incredibly solid tunes that flow amazingly well and are in the perfect sequence, a real lost art and certianly the diffrence between a good album and a great album. And the toonz man, the toonz! From the kick off of "Modern Kicks", an instant classic if there ever was one, on through "Sleeping Aides+Razorblades" to the truley sublime "Throwaway Style", this LP has been glued to the turntable for weeks. I love the pink and yellow artwork ,too! Like I said the Exploding Hearts are FUCKING IT! I gotta go throw this fucker on again! (Mike Frame) |
| PRESS AND REVIEWS |
| AMP MAGAZINE Exploding Hearts - "Guitar Romantic" LP Dude........this is good! the Exploding Hearts play amazing, hooky punk with a nice crunchy guitar. It is pretty much the perfect synthesis of traditional power pop and first wave UK punk. Seriously, imagine the bastard spawn of the PLIMSOULS and the UNDERTONES. Tunes like "Modern Kicks" and the amazing "I'm A Pretender" have been stuck in my head since i got this slab. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! (MC) |
| KNOW CRAP.com Exploding Hearts - "(Making) Teenage Faces - 7" "(Making) Teenage Faces" may very well be the catchiest power-pop song you have ever heard, and it ws written this year! You will be singing along by the second chorus as this number tattoos itself into your brain! These guys keep plenty of the punk attitude and power in ther pop! The B side is a flat out rocking punk number with plenty of snarl in the vocals! This is an amazing debut fom this Portland band. |
| BOMPS! "BEST and WORST of...2002 BEST OF 2002 1. EXPLODING HEARTS "GUITAR ROMANTIC" LP -Catchy as hell power pop along the lines of the BOYS. Go King Louie! (ed- this is actually funny and if you can find it check out who made #1 worst!!!!!) |
| UNDERGROUND MEDICINE Exploding Hearts - "Guitar Romantic" LP Just check out the thank you list and you know you'r in for something good: Epoxies, Flip-Tops,Spits, Dirtnap etc. Though you can't compare them to any of those bands as they are totally original. Great Punk-RnR-pop-Wave from Oregon with tons of hooks! The singer sounds like Mick Jones from Foreigner (oops thats the Clash, but they don't sound like them either) |
| BLANK GENERATION.com TOP TEN RECORDS OF 2002: #4 - Exploding Hearts "Guitar Romantic" Holy fucking shit this is a great record! Practicaly out of nowhere comes this outstanding debut from Portland, OR's the Exploding Hearts. The back says "100% Pop" wich is true ,I geuss, but not in a total saccharine pop way, like the Yum-Yums, nor in a retro 60s pop way, like the Fevers, but instead pop filtered through layers upon layers of snotty late 70s UK punk ACTION. The first song "Modern Kicks" is the best song to hit wax this year, no doubt about it. There are atleast five other huge hits here and theres not a stinker on the whole thing... Their first single is now at the top of my to-get list (if the A-side I have on mp3 is as good as the b side it will be single of the year!) as is their single on pelado records. My only question is what happened to King Louie? |
| ROCKNROLL OUTBREAK ZINE Exploding Hearts -"Modern Kicks" 7"-Pelado Records Pelado goes POWER POP?! This single has potential to be a classic. The Exploding Hearts are raw Mod/Power pop ,no Jam worship here. The later- Replacments playing power pop, but recorded with no budget. This single has a 60's pop feel to in minus the bubblegum. This band could have been on any Power Pearls comp, but they're twenty years too late. Pop songs with a razor edge ,just listen to the lyrics in "Busy Signals". I beleive their full length is (out) now. This single is a must buy and i'm sure the record will be too. -Ed Stuart |
| PITCHFORKmedia.com EXPLODING HEARTS "GUITAR ROMANTIC" CD 8.8 stars Ladies and gentlemen, please switch off your irony detectors. The Exploding Hearts are not tounge in cheek punk-pop revivalists, and they arn't post modern pastiche artists borrowing an abandoned aesthetic for the sake of cultural commentary. from thei bright pink and yellow album art, to their shamelessly sex pistols-esque poses, the Exploding Hearts make it clear from the outset that they're not too concerned with being taken seriously-- by you or anybody. At first glance it would be easy to write of the Exploding Hearts as another retarded pop/punk band that never evovled mentally past the 10th grade. But on their debut full-lenth, Guitar Romantic, the ridiculous geekdom that comes through the Hearts' "cool" facade like grease through a big mac wrapper pays off in spades, as the Portland four piece cuts right to the energetic heart of punk and power-pop, evoking vintage Soft Boys, the Only Ones, and -- though undoubtedly through sheer coincidence-- the Apples in Stereo first 7"s. First thing you're likely to notice about Guitar Romantic is the production-- its clipped out and fuzzy,burying the VU needle at +3. Thee is no subtlety to be found here: everything is pushed so far to the front of the mix that the instruments all blend together into a fuzzy two-dimensional sonic image. In this context it works perfectly--- theres no reason anything on here should be anywhere except for at the front. With all the instruments appropriately (or, perhaps, inapropriately) loud, the focus falls squarely on the songs themselves, which is where The Exploding Hearts' namesakes becomes all too fitting. The band wastes no time kicking your ass, either: the opener "Modern Kicks", is easily one of Guitar Romantic's best tracks, and perfectly exemplifies what makes this bands music so infectious. With its driving rythm and insaley catchy vocal hook delivered in a bratty faux-english accent, the song plays out like an anthemically poppy and disinctly American incarnation of the Buzzcocks. But Guitar Romantic peaks with "Sleeping Aides and Razorblades" , mining the energetic melodicism of eveything form Big Star to Nick Lowe to the misplaced 50s-isms and lobotomized abandon of the Ramones. There are points throughout Guitar Romantic where parellels could be drawn to the strokes. And indeed, the two bands seem to be working from a pretty similiar tradition. But where the strokes embody a "cool" that involves preening their hair to make it look like they just woke up, and their music sometimes seems similarly premeditated and self consciousm The Exploding Hearts simply have no shame. These guys indulge in power-pop like true hedonists, their unmitigated passion for the music negating any shred of the hipness their influences imply. At first, it's confounding that a band with such keen sense of songcraft would adobt a style aesthtic that combines punk cliche with an LA Looks advertisement. But their style like their sound, comes across as a product of unabashed enthusiasm and near-ridiculous reverence for the music they love. All this discussion, of course, seems irrelevant when the records playing. At the end of the day, Guitar Romantic is simply a fucking awesome power-pop record that would've been just as relevant and engaging twenty five years down the road. Though it may seem glaringly retro on the surface, the Exploding Hearts have released and album that is, at its core, ageless. Matt LeMay |
| NOW WAVE Guitar Romantic CD /LP ... amd that brings me to my latest "greatest-band-on-Earth", the utterly fantastic Exploding Hearts. Do I think they are anygreater of a band than, say, American Heartbreak or the Figgs (editor- we are) were three years ago? Who cares? Hearing their album for the very first time is like being 15 and seeing that perfect, mesmerizing girl-of-your-dreams for the very first time. Past obsessions no longer matter once you find yourself in the throes of ecstacy. Guitar Romantics is quite posibly the finest power pop LP I've ever heard. So i'll say it and mean it : THE EXPLODING HEARTS ARE THE GREATEST BAND IN THE WORLD!!! Its as if this album were created solely with my specific musical tastes in mind. It recalls all of those late 70's/early 80's new wave power pop LP's I've picked out of bargain bins over the years-- but with the added bonus of an authentic 70's punk bite! Imagine if you put the Dickies, Romantics, Undertones, 20/20, Buzzcocks, solo Stiv Bators, the Jam, Records, Boys, Plimsouls, Real Kids and PAUL COLLINS beat into a blender and whipped'em all up into one incrediible whole. That would be the Exploding Hearts! At its best, power pop music is a sublime mix of gorgeous, catchy melodies and raw, driving rock and roll energy. Every song on this album would fit that description! songs like "Modern Kicks", "Thorns in Roses", and "Rumours in Town" are brilliantly cfated Beatle-esque pop songs played with tough, puncy, Mod-tinged energy of early punk. Songs like "I'm a Pretender" and "Sleeping Aides and Raorblades" are supercharged, soulful amphetime-pop blasters on par with anything the Small Faces or early WHO ever recorded. By why single out just a few songs? The truth is that everysong on the record is a hit. Each tune is pop bliss personified. And ultimatly, THAT is what sets the Exploding Hearts ahead of the rest. Having the fine taste to emulate good bands is only part of the equation. The group is great not because it plays a punky brand of power pop, but because it plays it WELL. In the end, it always comes down to great songs. And Guitar Romantics is chock full of great songs..... my only criticism: ten songs are not nearly enough: I NEED MORE!!! Ruteledge |
| NOW WAVE Exploding Hearts -Modern Kicks b/w Busy Signals - 7" Everyone's favorite new band is back with its second single, and I can't even begin to express how amazing it is! Portland, Oregon's Exploding Hearts, currently the world's greatest power pop band, can officially be called THE one groups that best personifies the ideals we hold dearest here at the Now Wave. They are the poster children for he NWM aesthetic! In other words, they are all about catchy tunes, memorable melodies, crunchy guitars, booming beats, and GREAT pop songs that would top the charts in a perfect world. Musically, they follow in the footsteps of both our punk rock heroes (Ramones, Dickies, Buzzcocks, Boys, etc.) and our power pop favorites (the Beat, Romantics, young Elvis Costello, early Who, etc.) They blast forth loud, tunful, energetic rock and roll of the highest caliber. Not surprisingly, this new Pelado Records release lives up to the sky high standards set by previous Hearts recordings. The songs are a little less peppy than the tunes on the bands more punk-oriented debut single. Both are of the mid-tempo variety and come highly recommended to all fans of good pop. I especially dig the melancholy, pretty "Busy Signals", an affecting 70's- style power pop gem in the vein of the Nerves or Shoes. Whats truely impressive is that even when these guys slow it down and play sweet, jangly number like this one, they still ROCK big-time. This isn't some indie-fag band aping Big Star and having the audacit to call itself "power" pop. This is REAL power pop in every sense of the term, replete with the big guitars, thunderous rythm section, and spirited amphetamine kick. Imagine the Real Kids covering the Beatles, but with Leonard Graves Phillips singing lead! I could go on and on about The Exploding Hearts, but would be the point of that? you either have good taste, or you don't. And if ou do, you probably own this single already. Ruteledge |
| Brainwashed.com Exploding Hearts Guitar Romantic CD /LP The Exploding Hearts are unabashed disciples of the vibrant, inescapably catchy power pop of bands like the Nerves and the Knack. Mixing the thrust of early punk with melodic sensibilities of sixties results in a spirited, irresistible product with a sharp edge. Its evident through GUITAR ROMANTIC that this isn't just merely a pose, nor is it a joke. These are guys who are on their 3rd or 4th copy of Singles Going Steady cause they wore them out, who wondered what BRIAN WILSON would have sounded like if he met up with Richard Hell, who know the value of a good, steady finger snap and arn't afraid to use it. This is the music they love and it is that passion that makes GUITAR ROMANTIC such an engaging listen. Don't think that because they pay homage to so many of their influences that their is nothing new on theis record. Infact, the Exploding Hearts bring a ferocious energy to their sound, charging head-first into a crunchy rocker, or soulfully crooning along with back up harmonies. "Modern Kicks" opens things up, digging right in, gauranteeing that you will stick around for the rest of the album. The lead guitar slices through the fuzzed out production that causes the instruments to blur and rattle around each other. The mix gives a dirty, vintage sound that adds to the personality of the music. It sounds as if the album slipped behind slipped behind a shelf or under a pile of records twenty years ago, onlyto be rediscovered today as a lost pop gem. The bright shuffle of "Sleeping Aides and Razorblades" carries the Hearts' soulful romantic persona with clever lyrics like "Its a little off beat and it aint in tune- you know its just like this heart of mine" that line could serve as the tag line for GUITAR ROMANTIC, as the Hearts cover the trails and troubles of teenage romance with the resiliety forlon attitude they deserve, all packaged into a blissfully sweet pop delivery. "Jailbird" a love song about sniffing glue, has a devistatingly hooky chorus, amplified by the call and response back up vocals and a 120 watt guitar melody. You'll ifnd yourself singing along with every "Yeah -Yeah" amd "Woah-Woah." There truely is not a weak song on the entire album. Each track is irresistably catchy amd after a brief 10 songs in 28 minutes, the disore for another fix is intense. GUITAR ROMANTIC could have easily become just another nostalgia act looking to knock off the pastm but this is far from the case. They bring their own tack to a familiar style, imbuing it with a newfound youth and soul. The vitality that the Exploding Hearts put out is stunning, their music finely crafted to pound even the most jaded music fan into grinning, head bouncing submission. Michael Brady |