Handle With Care

Poor Jesse Summers. He should have been born early enough to burst onto the music scene in the late 70s, when the Cars were teaching the hipper mainstream audience that guitars and synthesizers could go great together, and Devo were sharing the same wisdom with the new wave kids. As fate would have it, Summers and his band Love Fiend are plying their trade in the mid-2020s, and they sound like they learned a great deal from listening to those two bands. They also have a few ideas of their own to add to the mix, and Love Fiends debut album, 2024s Handle with Care, is a punchy, high-spirited collection of power pop tunes with plenty of keyboard squeals (and occasional bursts of synthesized percussion) and elemental guitar riffs played with the spunky impact of a seasoned pop-punk band. Summers isnt afraid to push his vocal resemblance to Ric Ocasek, and even without it, Handle with Care is a work in the grand tradition of the Cars debut album -- certainly not a work of pop perfection like Ocasek and Company conjured, but plenty of fun, with enough rock action, pop hooks, and playful wit to confirm theyre contenders. "Just Like Eddie," "Jimmy (Is an Agent)," and "C.K.I.L." (aka "Cool Kids in Love") sure sound like the stuff of hit singles with their blend of taut guitars and period-appropriate keyboard patches. Theres just the right amount of nerdy swagger in Summers delivery to make them communicate, and his bandmates (Raymond Schmidt on keyboards and guitar, Owen Summers on bass, Owen Barrett on drums, and Kurtis Ray adding saxophone on three cuts) deliver with the same balance of sweat, precision, and rock & roll joy. Love Fiend have an abundance of cool along with plenty of talent, and even if they occasionally stray in the direction of camp and excess hipster cleverness, this band sounds like theyre having a blast; they more than bring that across in the studio, with John Dwyer of Osees serving them well as producer. Dig out that skinny tie, turn this up, and join Love Fiend in the musical time warp of their own design. Youll enjoy it. ~ Mark Deming