My recommendations 2006:Shattered by The Exploding Hearts

The Exploding Hearts: Shattered
Dirtnap 10/31/2006

Available at Emusic

Shattered is a tragically appropriate title for this posthumous (in more than one sense of the word) album. In April 2003, The Exploding Hearts released their superb debut album, Guitar Romantic, which was received very well by fans and critics alike. The following July, their tour van flipped over on an interstate, killing everybody inside except guitarist Terry Six and manager Rachelle Ramos. Shattered collects all of their recordings that were not included on Guitar Romantic. It shows that their debut was no fluke; every track is an example of the astonishingly catchy and well-crafted post-punk/power-pop that made Guitar Romantic one of the best albums of the decade so far. It's just one more reason to mourn the destruction of The Exploding Hearts and to hope for the best for Terry Six and his new band, The Nice Boys.