Newark, NJ

New Jersey-based Candy Hearts make melodic, '90s punk-pop-inspired rock music. A trio centered around singer/songwriter Mariel Loveland, Candy Hearts got started in 2009 while Loveland was attending college in Upstate New York. The following year, the group released its self-produced debut, Ripped Up Jeans & Silly Dreams. The band's sophomore album, Everything's Amazing and Nobody's Happy, appeared on Kind of Like Records in 2011. Around this time, Loveland caught the ear of New Found Glory guitarist Chad Gilbert, who signed her to his Violently Happy Records, an imprint of the Boston indie label Bridge Nine. In 2014, Candy Hearts returned with the Gilbert-produced full-length All the Ways You Let Me Down. ~ Matt Collar