On Shuffle: Exploding Hearts, "Sleeping Aids and Razorblades"

sup internet. Welcome to On Shuffle, where I hit shuffle and write about the first song that comes up. This time it's "Sleeping Aids and Razorblades" off of the Exploding Hearts' excellent and only LP Guitar Romantic (2003).

Like the rest of the album, "Aids" is a catchy simple punk song in the Buzzcocks vain. It stands out, however, because it has probably the best lyrics on the whole album. The song details the aftermath of a breakup, and is full of telling, hilarious details: "The house doesn't look the same/I put new posters all over the walls/And the dog don't remember your name" for example, or this particularly cutting line from the bridge, "The first night after you left babe it was so hard (so hard!)/Didn't help that you told all my friends I'm a retard!"

But "Sleeping Aids and Razorblades" is just one pretty great song on an album full of them. Guitar Romantic is probably the best punk album of the decade before (and the half-decade since) it came out. A few months later the band's tour bus flipped and everyone except the guitar player died. So this song is awesome and tragic. Listen to it before you go see Control.

Exploding Hearts - Sleeping Aids and Razorblades