Squeeze released Frank

Frank Squeeze

Released: August 24, 1989 Peak: 113 US, 58 UK Sales (in millions): -- Genre: new wave

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Frank (no author – studio chatter) [0:15] If It’s Love [4:02] (9/89, 7 MR) Peyton Place [4:08] Rose, I Said [3:36] Slaughtered, Gutted and Heartbroken [4:37] This Could Be the Last Time [3:49] She Doesn’t Have to Shave [3:27] Love Circles [5:34] (1/15/90, --) Melody Motel [3:51] Can of Worms [4:47] Dr. Jazz (Holland) [4:04] Is It Too Late [3:12] Songs written by Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 45:22 The Players: Chris Difford (vocals, rhythm guitar) Glenn Tilbrook (vocals, lead guitar) Jools Holland (keyboards) Keith Wilkinson (bass) Gilson Lavis (drums, percussion)

Rating: 3.089 out of 5.00 (average of 17 ratings) Quotable: “An unpretentious, classily produced album that’s packed with quality tunes” – John Alroy, Wilson & Alroy’s Record Reviews

About the Album: ”Though Babylon and On was hailed as a return to form, the unfairly overlooked follow-up, Frank, comes much closer to the sound of classic Squeeze.” AMG ”The band suddenly showed signs of life with an unpretentious, classily produced album that's packed with quality tunes and comes off as a true group effort.” JA “Wilkinson's ferociously melodic, Tilbrook's guitar parts are a tour de force, and, like everyone, Holland sounds like he's having the party of his life.” JA “Practically everything works, with crisp but complex arrangements, significant stylistic variety, and a genuine sense of humor…Several tunes are among their best ever.” JA “Mysteriously, the…singles completely bombed.” JA Then again, this should come as no surprise to anyone following their career. Squeeze can churn out pop masterpieces in their sleep and the charts will never give them a second glance. Both “If It's Love and the mesmerizingly harmonized Love Circles (hey, that's Difford in the lead) sound like Paul McCartney at his best.” JA "Peyton Place has great dynamics and a riveting chorus” JA while “the twisting rockers Rose I Said and (This Could Be) The Last Time are excellent examples of the group's debt to Elvis Costello and the early Beatles.” JA Dr. Jazz, Holland’s “boogie-woogie jazz tribute is endearingly odd.” JA He’s also “memorable on another of Difford's spotlights – the smooth, 40's small-combo jazz number Slaughtered, Gutted and Heartbroken,” JA the peak of the album. The most “Squeeze-like” song on the album is the “irresistible” AMG She Doesn’t Have to Shave. Complete with witty lyrics that make you chuckle and an understated pop hook, the song catches on after a few listens and never lets you go again after that. That song and Can of Worms fit the fairly standard “blue-eyed soul love songs,” JA but, as is often the case with Squeeze, they charm more than they detract. There are also the “good-natured musical sendups (country-western on Melody Motel; manic rockabilly on It's Too Late) [that] are so well-performed they're gems.” JA ”None of this pushes the band's limits, but such a minor shortcoming won't spoil your enjoyment in the slightest.” JA With Frank, Squeeze has churned out yet another inexplicably overlooked delight.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Squeeze AMG All Music Guide by Chris Woodstra JA John Alroy, Wilson & Alroy’s Record Reviews Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/16/2006; last updated 2/7/2022.

Squeeze released Babylon and On

Babylon and On Squeeze

Released: September 15, 1987 Peak: 36 US, 14 UK, 95 CN, 84 AU Sales (in millions): -- Genre: new wave

Tracks: Song Title [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Hourglass [3:16] (7/87, 15 US, 13 RR, 45 AC, 22 AR, 3 CO, 16 UK, 23 CN, 90 AU) Footprints [3:49] (6/88, --) Tough Love [3:07] The Prisoner [4:06] 853-5937 [3:16] (12/19/87, 32 US, 27 RR, 37 AR, 6 CO, 91 UK, 50 CN) In Today's Room [3:28] Trust Me To Open My Mouth [3:12] (9/87, 50 AR, 25 CO, 72 UK) Striking Matches [3:02] Cigarette of a Single Man [3:29] Who Are You? [3:30] The Waiting Game [3:06] (11/87, --) Some Americans [4:40] Songs written by Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook. Total Running Time: 42:01 The Players: Chris Difford (vocals, rhythm guitar) Glenn Tilbrook (vocals, lead guitar) Jools Holland, Andy Metcalfe (keyboards) Keith Wilkinson (bass) Gilson Lavis (drums, percussion)

Rating: 3.413 out of 5.00 (average of 15 ratings) Quotable: “A fully engaging album” – Amazon.com

About the Album: For their seventh album, “Squeeze decided to return to the more straight-ahead pop of their classic period.” AMG Babylon and On strips back a bit and, although the return is a welcomed one AMG “with hooks that make sly demands on the attention of the listener,” AZ “much of the material misses the mark, and the move seems a little forced. Flaws aside, there are some moments of inspiration.” AMG With a tongue-twister lightning-speed chorus, Hourglass “became the band's biggest Stateside hit” AMG and “revels in Squeeze's signature sound: idiosyncratically structured choruses made inviting by the enthusiasm of multiple voices” AZ definitely has pop appeal, but it is sad to think that masterpieces like “Tempted,” “Up the Junction,” and “Black Coffee in Bed” were dwarfed by this “near-novelty” AMG song. Footprints and 853-5937 are two of Squeeze’s weaker singles releases. They aren’t entirely without witty lines or catchy hooks, but they pale in comparison to previous classics like “Cool for Cats” and “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell).” The first half of the album is also doomed with several filler songs. “Tough Love presents another one of their finely detailed little vignettes.” AZ While it may be lyrically interesting, it makes for one of the weak points of the album, along with The Prisoner and In Today’s Room. The second half of the album is much stronger. "Trust Me to Open My Mouth offers a narrator flawed in familiar way.” AZ ”It kicks butt all over the place, with a great harmony arrangement and a compelling bass line.” JA That song then launches into Striking Matches, a Difford-sung song that would have fit comfortably on previous album Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti, Squeeze’s welcome return after a three-year layoff. Things just keep kicking with Cigarette of a Single Man. This song fits comfortably into the role of a classic Squeeze song overshadowed by the album’s hit singles. With Argybargy, it was “Separate Beds;” on East Side Story it was a pair of songs with “Messed Around” and “Vanity Fair.” Here, “Cigarette” unnecessarily plays second fiddle to “Hourglass” and “Trust Me to Open My Mouth.” This is the kind of song that may not musically overwhelm you, but you’ll find yourself bopping along to it as you back up to play the song again to listen to the catchy lyrics. The album closes out with three strong songs that are still easy to overlook after the strong trifecta that they follow. Who Are You? is a decent toe-tapper, followed by a smooth ballad in The Waiting Game. Things wrap up with Some Americans, which hits on the familiar British perspective that Squeeze brings to many of their songs as they sing “about how they really don't understand Americans.” RC Chop out a few of the dead weight songs and replace them with that era’s B-side “Wedding Bells” and “What Have They Done,” from the When the Wind Blows and you have a perfect album. Even as is, though, ”Squeeze [have] fashioned a fully engaging album.” AZ Notes: The UK re-release added bonus tracks “Splitting into Three” and “Wedding Bells.”

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 AZ Amazon.com RC Robert Christgau Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/16/2006; last updated 2/7/2022.

 

Squeeze released Argybargy

Argybargy Squeeze

Released: February 8, 1980 Peak: 71 US, 32 UK, 26 CN Sales (in millions): -- Genre: new wave

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Pulling Mussels from the Shell [3:57] (5/9/80, 44 UK, 9 CL, 2 CO) Another Nail in My Heart [2:56] (1/80, 17 UK, 56 CN, 21 CL, 10 CO) Separate Beds [3:20] Misadventure [2:54] I Think I’m Go Go [4:16] Farfisa Beat [2:56] (9/80, --) Here Comes That Feeling [2:11] Vicky Verky [3:11] If I Didn’t Love You [4:11] (3/12/80, 21 CL, 30 CO) Wrong Side of the Moon (Difford/Holland) [2:23] There at the Top [3:45] Songs written by Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 36:38 The Players: Chris Difford (vocals, rhythm guitar) Glenn Tilbrook (vocals, lead guitar) Jools Holland (keyboards) John Bentley (bass) Gilson Lavis (drums)

Rating: 3.944 out of 5.00 (average of 19 ratings) Quotable: ”Packed with perfect, timeless pop that stands not only as the band's crowning achievement, but also as a landmark recording of the era” – Chris Woodstra, All Music Guide Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Where Cool for Cats marked a great leap over the debut, Argybargy improved at least that far over its own predecessor.” AMG ”Everything on this record is in place” HE as Squeeze “figured out a sound that wasn't just commercial, but tasteful and sophisticated.” JA “Still a distinctly British band, Squeeze compensated with an incredibly catchy batch of songs that, despite the subject matter, spoke the universal language of bright, bouncy, instantly endearing pop.” AMG The clever and catchy songs of Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford had found their full flower and the band's embellishments and propulsion had grown by confident leaps and bounds.In short, the band finds a clear and distinct voice on Argybargy.” HE They ”don't settle for have-fun fall-in-love fear-girls. They pen short stories worthy of early Rupert Holmes, and with a beat…'Tis said McCartneyesque tunefulness is the ticket here, but…Tilbrook sounds more like Ray Davies…at peace with himself and out for big bucks.” RC ”The acute observations of the British working class were even more vivid — none so poignant as the classic Pulling Mussels (From the Shell),” AMG “a memorable soul ballad,” JA “which offers a series of detailed snapshots of the different walks of life on a seaside holiday.” AMG “Opening with the one-two punch of …[that song] and Another Nail In My Heart, this album keeps up an exuberant pace, but never runs out of breath.” HE The latter is "a comparatively up-tempo number with an interesting marimba part and a smooth 50's-style dance beat.” JA If I Didn’t Love You is easily as strong as the two singles; great vocal, great slide guitar solo, and the chorus' jerky rhythm is like a Cars riff gone right.” JA “The rest is just as solid.” JA There’s “the often-overlooked courting-to-breakup story-song Vicky Verky, which nearly matched [the] brilliance” AMG of “Up the Junction” from the Cool for Cats album. "Separate Beds…has the dynamic, layered production you'd expect from a mid-70's Elton John or Paul McCartney record.” JA ”New bassist John Bentley [brings a] subtle, swooping melodicism…he’s brilliant on the MG's-inspired There at the Top); Holland's contribution is a peppy, nicely done 50's dance number (Wrong Side of the Moon); nerdy synth noises are kept to a minimum; and there are inspired hooks and unexpected transitions everywhere.” JA “This album is an essential pop statement, full of verve, invention, humor and surprise.” HE “Argybargy is simply packed with perfect, timeless pop that stands not only as the band's crowning achievement, but also as a landmark recording of the era.” AMG Notes: The U.S. release reordered songs 6-11 as “If I Didn’t Love You,” “Farfisa Beat,” “Here Comes That Feeling,” “Vicky Verky,” “Wrong Side of the Moon,” and “There at the Top.” The 1997 UK re-release added bonus tracks “Funny How It Goes” and “Go.”

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 3/16/2006; last updated 2/7/2022.

 

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.