Candy Hearts – All The Ways You Let Me Down

New Jersey pop-punk outfit Candy Hearts remains one of the sweetest treats in today’s punk underground.  Front woman Muriel Loveland’s girlish charm is the sugary, musical equivalent of taking a childhood tour of a candy shop and leaving blissfully with a, colourful, eye-popping swirl lollipop.  Such a sunny, elated atmosphere shines through in the trio’s third studio full length, All The Ways You Let Me Down, as the band pens the next chapter of their playful accounts of life, love and relationships.

Candy Hearts has always been about the lighter side of messy breakups, and their third time around is no different.  Thematically, All The Ways You Let Me Down centres around ‘falling out of like,’ and working up the gall to call out those neglectful boys that tend to make on-again-off-again relationships a lifestyle. 

The album mirrors the emotional rollercoaster of wanting to fix something that’s already broken with a one sided commitment.  Tracks like “I Miss You” and “The Dream’s Not Dead” offer early insight as to the blissful hope clouding telltale signs at the onset of a doomed relationship.  The playful, heartfelt melodies leading up to the title track quickly take aim at boys looking for “easy outs.”  When talking about long distance relationships, Muriel counters accusations like “you say my heart’s not big enough to hold the distance between us,” with the comeback, “well the distance has never felt as big as when you’re lying right next to me” and further reinforced by the sentiment, “you want to fight for our love, but darling don’t you think we’ve fought enough.”  Loveland and the gang are no pushovers and would serve as far more empowering role models than pretty much any modern pop icon.

Despite the potential for heartbreak, Candy Hearts keep their spirits high with track after track of spirited, whole-hearted melodies.  While they will inevitably garner comparisons to Lemuria and Mixtapes, songs like “Fools Gold” and “Something’s Missing” manage to feel spontaneous and lively even with content that could have easily turned into a whiny cry for help.  Thankfully that’s just not Candy Hearts style.  In fact, Candy Hearts might just be one of the all time most fun pop-punk bands to listen and sing along with.  

It would be easy to dismiss Candy Hearts because of their simplicity, but that would entirely miss the point.  All The Ways You Let Me Down is just plain old feel-good music with a liberating love for life.  Built upon a foundation of sugary melody and catchy hooks, Candy Hearts remain an absolute pleasure to tune in to, and a much-needed contrast to today’s gruff, largely male dominated scene (vocal and otherwise).