Squeeze released sophomore album, Cool for Cats

Cool for Cats Squeeze

Released: March 9, 1979 Peak: -- US, 45 UK Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.06 UK Genre: new wave

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Slap & Tickle [4:00] (8/31/79, 24 UK, 27 CL, 14 CO) Revue [2:30] Touching Me, Touching You [2:25] It's Not Cricket [2:34] It's So Dirty [3:10] The Knack [4:32] Hop, Skip & Jump (Difford/Holland) [2:47] Up the Junction [3:10] (5/18/79, 2 UK, 4 C, 4 CO) Hard to Find [3:36] Slightly Drunk [2:41] Goodbye Girl [2:57] (3/9/79, 2 UK, 20 CL, 8 CO) Cool for Cats [3:29] (11/2/78, 63 UK, 28 CL, 21 CO) All songs written by Difford & Tilbrook unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 38:21 The Players: Chris Difford (vocals, rhythm guitar) Glenn Tilbrook (vocals, lead guitar) Jools Holland (keyboards) Harry Kakoulli (bass) Gilson Lavis (drums)

Rating: 3.566 out of 5.00 (average of 18 ratings) Quotable: “The band's first truly great album” – Chris Woodstra, All Music Guide Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “After the false start of the debut, Squeeze recast themselves as a quintessentially British band” AMG and “truly hit their stride. The crazily hopped- up arrangements and murky production of their debut gave way to more sophisticated approaches on every front.” HE ”Not only does its songcraft surpass that of the band's debut, but it also isn’t quite as sophomoric.” RC ”The band’s sound is much more fleshed out, and the production is more deliberate and refined.” JA “The band often rocks harder than they did on the debut, this time adding synth-driven arrangements while retaining a working-class pub-rock sensibility.” AMG ”Chris Difford’s lyrics find their way into thornier subject matter than most writers in the pop world tend to explore and, combined with Glenn Tilbrook’s McCartney-esque melodies and phrasing, the listener is drawn in by the sweet seduction of it all.” HE ”As always everything's dominated by Difford and Tilbrook, but Holland does get in a spotlight number that hints at the boogie-woogie jazz he later obsessed with (Hop Skip & Jump).” JA Squeeze “proudly imbue a couple of the songs with a strong dose of their very British-ness” HE “packing the songs with exaggerated accents, British slang, and incorporating a nearly cinematic narrative style to make incisive observations on British working-class life with a sly, skewed wit and a sex-obsessed thematic undercurrent.” AMG Nowhere is this more obvious than on the “unforgettable Difford-sung hit title track.” AMG “Cool for Cats had the strongest U.K. vocal inflection of any song to cross the ocean in the late seventies outside of Ian Dury.” HE The album also “boasts arguably their finest song-story in Up the Junction, a timeless gem.” AMG It is a “’50s sock hop-style ballad with a pretty keyboard hook and some witty word play.” JA The British charts rewarded that song and “Cool for Cats” by sending them both to #2 on the charts. “The album’s staying power is demonstrated by no less than four songs having become relative staples for the band over the years” HE – the two songs already mentioned, as well as Slap and Tickle…and Goodbye Girl,” HE the latter being “an interesting synth ballad.” JA A sizable chunk of the rest of the album is fleshed out by “a bunch of sporadically enjoyable Costello-style rock songs (Touching Me, Touching You; It's So Dirty; Hard to Find; Slightly Drunk).” JA In the end, “Cool for Cats stands as the band's first truly great album.” AMG

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Squeeze AMG All Music Guide review by Chris Woodstra JA John Alroy, Wilson & Alroy’s Record Reviews RC Robert Christgau HE Half.Ebay.com Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/6/2008; last updated 2/6/2022.

 

Squeeze released their debut

Squeeze Squeeze

Released: February 13, 1978 Peak: -- Sales (in millions): -- Genre: new wave

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Sex Master [2:21] Bang Bang [2:04] (5/78, 49 UK, 42 CL, 19 CO) Strong In Reason [4:14] Wild Sewerage Tickles Brazil (Instrumental) (Squeeze) [3:49] Out of Control [4:44] Take Me I'm Yours [3:46] (2/3/78, 19 UK, 37 CL, 14 CO) The Call [5:17] Model [2:59] Remember What [2:51] First Thing Wrong [3:43] Hesitation (Rool Britannia) [3:45] Get Smart [2:06] All songs written by Difford & Tilbrook unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 41:43 The Players: Chris Difford (vocals, rhythm guitar) Glenn Tilbrook (vocals, lead guitar) Jools Holland (keyboards) Harry Kakoulli (bass) Gilson Lavis (drums)

Rating: 2.441 out of 5.00 (average of 18 ratings)

About the Album: Squeeze’s debut was released in the U.S. as U.K. Squeeze to avoid confusion with another band. When that band went defunct, Squeeze dropped the U.K. from their name for their sophomore album. Whatever you call the first album, it “is quite unlike anything that would follow and nearly seems like the work of another band.” AMG The album “had no shortage of youthful exuberance.The careful pop craftsmanship, a hallmark of their subsequent work, was not yet in place. Instead the album offers high-octane arrangements and production approaches.” HE ”The disc shows their true colors as traditional rockers, even if it's impossible to hear any connection with the contemporary punk movement. They already have their harmony arrangements figured out, but the rhythm section kicks hard, and Tilbrook lays on the most unrestrained guitar solos you'll hear anywhere in their catalog.” JA ”Much of the reason for this comes from producer John Cale's somewhat warped vision of the band. Cale threw out all of the songs the band came to the studio with and demanded that they write new ones on the spot (he also proposed calling the album Gay Guys, and undoubtedly had something to do with the hot pink bodybuilder cover and the shirtless photo of the band on the back).” AMG The rough and ragged songs that resulted from the studio writing range from raw, inspired rockers like” AMG Sex Master and Get Smart, which “have some genuine boogie woogie energy,” JA and “Difford’s competent ballad spotlight Strong in Reason,” JA “to the utterly bizarre, near-funk instrumental Wild Sewerage Tickles Brazil, which features wild shrieks throughout.” AMG ”Tbere’s some random jamming on The Call and a lot of the tunes…are lyrically gimmicky (Model; Difford's rap on Hesitation (Rool Brittania)).” JA “Out of Control and Remember What are respectable Elvis Costello-style head-bangers, and Bang Bang has a demented chorus and an interesting, foot-stomping beat.” JA One definite highlight is the “band-produced…Take Me I'm Yours,” HE a “fondly remembered” AMG “minor British hit” HE “driven by a really annoying, robotic synth line that would have been worthy of the Cars.” JA “There’s…not a lot of variety, outside of ‘Take Me’ and one loud electric blues (First Thing Wrong), but at least it’s energetic.” JA In addition, “the fine songwriting of Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford was already in place (indeed, they had been writing together throughout their teenage years).” HE ”Though not as refined as they would soon become, this album did serve to announce their arrival.” HE “The album in general remains an oddity of the Squeeze catalog.” AMG Notes: The 1997 UK re-release added bonus tracks “Deep Cuts” and “Heartbreak.”

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Squeeze AMG All Music Guide review by Chris Woodstra JA John Alroy, Wilson & Alroy’s Record Reviews HE Half.Ebay.com Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/6/2008; last updated 2/6/2022.