The companion piece to the winter 2001 EP {^So Impossible}, the breezy {^Summer Kisses EP} finds {$Dashboard Confessional} -- under, as always, the direction of heartbreaker {$Christopher Ender Carrabba} -- turning in a sun-kissed, acoustic-based collection of four songs, most about love (at least to a certain extent). Songs about devotion, actually, pledging his love in a variety of ways, as he earnestly sings his melodies over eagerly strummed guitars and big drums. {$Carrabba} doesn't alter his vocal approach much -- exhortations are the modus operandi here, not crooning -- and his wordy lyrics perhaps don't lend themselves easily to hooks (and it's hard not to wish that they did), but there's enough variation in sonic texture from track to track to give it the impression of tunefulness, if not the reality. And let it not be said that he's lacking in humor -- the last song is {&"Ender Will Save Us All,"} after all. So, while {^Summer Kisses} doesn't provide a breakthrough, it is a progression, not just in its instrumentation and humor, but in how it suggests that {$Carrabba}'s songwriting is beginning to gel, and they're able to keep the {\emo} but make it light. And, ultimately, that's a nice indicator for the next full-length. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide