Love Fiend: "Our Work in the Past Has Been a Little More Random and Disjointed, so We Wanted To Do the Opposite on This Record"

For an example of shifting perceptions from the cheap trends, consider Love Fiend — a Los Angeles group whose members were all raised in small towns by parents who loved them. Their new album Handle With Care (In The Records) is primed with synth-drenched power pop coolness, rippin' sax solos, colorful art school oddities, and other nervy earworms that cross somewhere between the cheeky, good-time rock 'n' roll of The Revelons and Roy Loney & The Phantom Movers and the jagged electro-pop detours of The Units and Starter. This isn't music for the heart: with its stylized surfaces, it appeals to the senses, offering satisfaction in its high performance.

What have you been listening to, reading, watching or spending a lot of time doing?

Jesse Summers: Lately we haven't been playing or writing music at all. We've mostly been riding bikes and getting out in the sun together. We are planning to start writing a new record in July. Last year while we were writing Handle With Care, we were listening to a lot of Eddie Cochran, The Silicone Teens, George Jones, and Magazine. We were also watching a lot of John Carpenter movies.

For our readers unfamiliar, tell us about the origins of Love Fiend. How did you all meet and decide to start making music together?

Owen and I formed a band to perform at the elementary school talent show back in the early 2000s — we were called The Wannabes and we played "Wipeout." We've been playing together on and off since then. Odie joined on bass in 2015 and we were The Radio Fliers for a few years until we got a cease and desist letter from the wagon company. Then we became Love Fiend. Raymond joined in 2020.

How do you feel looking back on your band's catalog? Do you still like or relate to your past releases?

I still dig our catalog. We've tried different production techniques and stylistic things over the years, which I'm glad about. At its core though, it's always been roots rock and roll, and I think Handle With Care was just stripped back enough to show that.

How do you think the band has grown over the years to where you are now?

We all like a huge variety of music and in the past we sometimes couldn't narrow down exactly what we wanted the band to be. I think we are much more certain of what Love Fiend is now.

You've previously released a lot of your work as one-off singles leading up to the new album. What's different about putting together a full-length album?

This time around, we just wanted the whole thing to fit together. We were very deliberate with the songs we chose, the sequencing, and the overall production concept. Our work in the past has been a little more random and disjointed, so we wanted to do the opposite on this record.

What else can you tell us about the making of Handle with Care? What were the highlights working with John Dwyer at Discount Mirror Studios?

John is a legend and his experience was invaluable during the session. He understood what we were trying to make, so he would steer us back on course if we ever strayed too far. Sometimes he had to use a bullwhip, but mostly he was gentle.

Digging into some of its toons, what can you tell us about the opening cut "Just For Eddie"?

Raymond wrote this song and does a very Ric Ocasek lead vocal, which I love. I see the song as a nod to the rock 'n' roll of the late '50s, with the saxophone and everything. You’re meant to feel like you’re drinking a Coca Cola, playing pool, hanging around a juke box — it's just a good time.

What's the story behind "Hard Feelings" and what can you say about its music video?

It's an upbeat, danceable track, the words are easy to remember, and it is a great sampler of all the influences that are present on the record. For the video, we were aiming somewhere between John Waters and Bill Nye, so we took inspiration from the 1950s as well as the 1990s.

"Jimmy (Is An Agent)" is probably my favorite song on the record.

Odie wrote this song. Our songwriting almost always follows the basic formula of jamming together on a musical idea, recording a demo, then the primary writer taking that home and hashing out lyrics. We all loved the line "99 miles an hour in an Escalade," so we encouraged him to write a song with that energy. Maybe in the lyrics there is a small comment on nepotism… I wouldn't read too much into that though.

What were the inspirations of "C.K.I.L."?

This song is based on real people and real events, but I can’t comment more than that...

"Tied Up" sounds like it came from the Midwest. How did this one come together?

Odie wrote this song. It's actually a fictional telling of an experience with a dominatrix. Perhaps give the lyrics another listen...

"Vacant Love" is one of the more thoughtful pop songs on the record with prepossessing simplicity, emotional depth, and Ric Ocasek-style vocals. What inspired this one?

As opposed to the other thoughtless songs? …kidding. I wrote this one. Personally, I don't write lyrics to try to create any meaning, and I don't think the other guys necessarily do either. Meaning presents itself if the lyrics are correct in rhythm, rhyme, and sound. That’s how I write, at least. Usually I’m able to just ad lib some gibberish in the beginning because I have a feeling for how the lyrics should sound. Then I record that, listen to it, and piece together some words that might work. However, if we are to squabble over semantics, the song is about the uselessness of seeking approval and love from the masses, or worse, the internet.

What are some future plans for Love Fiend?

We've been at it for ten years, and putting out the record last year was a significant milestone. We played a ripper of a show at Oblivion Surf and Vintage in Los Angeles over the summer (with Memo PST) and it was one of the best times I ever had on stage with the others. The push to grow or blow up or something as a band is not really on the agenda these days. For the time being, everyone is doing their own thing. I'll be putting out new music under the solo project called Buddy Hollywood which will be touring in April up and down California, Owen is playing drums for Levi Turner on the Zach Bryan tour. Odie is a video artist and claymation animator and put out a ridiculous amount of work last year. Raymond is always working on creative projects, but lately he’s been building a flying bicycle…

Is it really true that your music "never has curse words"?

So far, yes.

Handle With Care is out now on In The Red Records.