The Exploding Hearts’ one and only studio album Guitar Romantic is getting the reissue treatment in honor of its 20th anniversary. Ahead of its release on May 26th via Third Man Records, a remix of “I’m a Pretender” by the band’s late keyboardist “King” Louie Bankston available to stream now.
The Portland band’s promising future was sadly cut much too short: In July 2003, barely three months after they released Guitar Romantic, the band was involved in a highway accident that tragically killed members Adam Cox, Matt Fitzgerald, and Jeremy Gage, rendering The Exploding Hearts obsolete. (Bankston died in February 2022.)
Still, Guitar Romantic went on to live a life of its own. The expanded reissue boasts the album’s original 10-song tracklist and Bankston’s “I’m a Pretender” remix he made shortly before his death, as well as new mixes of “So Bored” and “Busy Signals,” the latter of which had previously only been available on a small-quantity 7-inch in January 2003.
Pre-orders for physical copies of the album are ongoing. Listen to “I’m a Pretender (King Louie Mix)” below, and keep scrolling to see the album artwork and tracklist for Guitar Romantic (Expanded & Remastered).
Guitar Romantic (Expanded & Remastered) Tracklist:
01. Modern Kicks
02. I’m a Pretender
03. Thorns in Roses
04. You’re Black And Blue
05. Sleeping Aides and Razorblades
06. Rumours in Town
07. Throwaway Style
08. Boulevard Trash
09. Jailbird
10. Still Crazy
11. Busy Signals (2023 Mix)
12. I’m a Pretender (King Louie Mix)
13. So Bored (2023 Mix)
