Remember the 90s?
It was a decade filled with shenanigans, uncertainty, and alternative music. From that decade we may wonder what happened to “alternative” music. Did it become pop? Did it die with flannel and corduroy?
Like all things in life, I feel “alternative,” for all it is, is making a comeback. And it’s a comeback I’m very much into.
Mariel Loveland fronts the band Candy Hearts with her refreshing light vocals. Singing evocative stories around a sound made big in the 90s. Both in sound and in lyrics, Everything’s Amazing and Nobody’s Happy brings about a nostalgic twelve songs. Each song feels like it’s the missing track from the 10 Things I Hate About You Soundtrack. They’re not mushy, obscure love songs, but rather specific points that paint the picture as she sings quirky lines of true experience like “I remember riding in your car/ without a seatbelt” and “Had a kind of a day/ that makes me just want to sleep.” And for some reason almost every song mentions a car, but I digress. Christina Picciano pumps out rock beats on the drums offering a rock-like rhythm to Christian Stefos’ backing bass licks all while the light guitar riffs of Kris Hayes keeps it all in check.
Too clean to call punk and too original to classify as pop, Candy Hearts evokes a memorable feeling of when the world referred to their sound as just “alternative.” The twelve fluid tracks are refreshing in light of the repetition that seems to be streaming forth from the pop world. The bouncing, rolling tracks deliver a retrospective punch as if meant to solidify the relevance of our youth. In a fun, addictive way, we all want to go back to those days where we cruised around listening to the bands that made us feel like their music was meant for us. As we all grow up, we have the memories and now Candy Hearts; they do a great job of making it sound like their singing to me, but I can share.
