The 1981 Listening Post - Squeeze - East Side Story

 Squeeze - East Side Story

#200

By Edward DeSantis

Squeeze

East Side Story

Genre: Squeeze

Allen’s Rating: 5 out of 5

Edward’s Rating: 3.99 out of 5

Highlights:

Tempted 

Is that Love?

Allen’s Highlights add:

In Quintessence

Someone Else’s Heart

Singles, 45’s and Under is as close to the perfect pop album as you can get. This is where I admit that I had worn the tape out three times before I realized it was a “Best Of” compilation. Once aware, the idea that there were more gems to be uncovered from this duo of Chris Difford and Glenn Tillbrook, the saviors of British pop that were compared to Lennon and McCartney, brought great joy to my young heart and ultimately sadness and dismay.

While their harmonies and song craft brought them the comparison to Lennon and McCartney, the comparison for this band is more apt to be to Jagger and Richards. Not unlike the Rolling Stones, Squeeze has a particular style and sound that they are exceptional at, catchy, ear worm, pop. The same way Keith and Mick can claim to be stewards of the blues. Just like the Stones though, the band isn’t known for full sets of amazing tunes on one disc the way that the Beatles are. There are amazing examples of writing and performing on each record, but by the same token each record has soft spots and weak links.

East Side Story is no exception. It pains me to write that, even more so when you consider this album was produced by none other than Elvis Costello. That fact is what keeps me from giving it a full 4.00. I expected so much more from these three kings of popular music. The standouts here are the ones that made it to the Singles compilation “Tempted” and “Is that Love?”. Both examples of pop at it’s catchiest, wormiest best. “Tempted” was sung by the new keyboard player Paul Carrack who had replaced the irreplaceable Jools Holland for this record. The lead track “In Quintessence” is a runner-up to the two previously mentioned gems, but the word “Quintessence” itself for me stands in the way of the song getting in my ear hole. The majority of the record feels soft and constrained to my willing ears. I can hear Elvis’ influence on the tracks “Mumbo Jumbo” and “Vanity Fair” but it sounds more like conflict than collaboration to me, as if an argument was won and a song was dutifully produced. The country inspired “Labelled With Love” feels like a dare. Elvis, Glenn and Chris obviously love the storytelling aspect of American country music but I miss the dust and grit necessary to pull this kind of stunt off. Remarkably that track was the last time Squeeze hit the top ten in the UK. The album is a fun listen as all Squeeze albums are, but if you’re looking to be blown away after each song fades into the next as I am when I listen to Singles, 45’s and Under you have to wade through some average tunes to get blown.

https://open.spotify.com/album/4178w40uOpDld2RnR1ifCy?si=f1BcCBVaR36pIJj_Fhmibwq

The 1980 Listening Post - Squeeze - Argybargy

Squeeze - Argybargy

#35

Reviewed by Craig Fitzgerald

February 1 1980

Squeeze

Argybargy

Genre: Power Pop

Allen’s Rating: 5 out of 5

Craig’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)

Another Nail in My Heart

Separate Beds

Misadventure

I Think I'm Go Go

Farfisa Beat 

Vicky Verky 

I’ve always liked Squeeze from afar. I was 11 — the same age as my son is now — when this record came out, so I was nowhere cool enough to own it then. What amounted to “hits” on this record, I knew, though. When I finally started listening to decent radio, “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell),” “Another Nail For My Heart,” and “If I Didn’t Love You” got regular airplay, so I felt like I had a pretty good handle on what this record was all about. The surprise here was that out of the 11 songs on it, I absolutely love NINE of them, and the other two get a “pretty, pretty good” rating. This is 36 minutes of sweet, fun, perfectly written pop. I’m not sure it really got better than than Side One of this record in 1980. Every single song is fantastic. The surprises for me were the killer riffs in “Farfisa Beat” and “There At the Top” and the lovely songwriting in “Separate Beds”. Even the Jools Holland-penned, Robert Goulet-esque “Wrong Side of the Moon” is a treat. This is a great, great record.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/argybargy/262722951

The 1985 Listening Post - Squeeze - Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti

Squeeze - Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti

#307/942

August 1985

Squeeze

Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti

Genre: Rock

2.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Last Time Forever

I wrote before about how my favorite Squeeze song, and perhaps one of my favorite songs of all time, was “In Quintessence”. A friend of a friend in college had decided that I was the living embodiment of this tune and I took that as a compliment at first, since no one had ever taken any interest in defining me in song. Until I learned that it was really an insult. Still didn’t matter. Still loved the song.

But that wasn’t my first introduction to Squeeze. That came from my cousin who had Argybargy. (She also had The Fine Art of Surfacing, so obviously she had great taste) Her name is Michelle and we liked to think that they were singing “Pulling Mussels for Michelle”. 

Later, my younger brother had the collection of singles, 45s and Under, which might be the most perfect collection of tracks ever put on vinyl to represent a band. 

So, of course, I had to get me some Squeeze. And being a completist I started with a cassette of U.K. Squeeze. 

Which was awful.

So terrible in fact that I didn’t return to Squeeze for many many years. I didn’t even own a copy of East Side Story until I was 33, only to realize after purchasing it that I already knew every song on it because, and I don’t know who owned it, the cassette was played in my family’s store during a summer. I didn’t put it on but play it did. 

I thought Sweets from a Stranger was mediocre and Difford & Tilbrook worse. They did not recover with this one.  For every okay track “Last Time Forever” there’s a tonnage of bad (looking at you, “I Learnt How to Pray”).

https://music.apple.com/us/album/cosi-fan-tutti-frutti/1443410908

The 1984 Listening Post - Difford & Tilbrook - Difford & Tilbrook

Difford & Tilbrook - Difford and Tilbrook

#203

July

Difford & Tilbrook

Difford & Tilbrook

1.5 out of 5

I think Difford & Tilbrook always wanted to be the British Hall & Oates. Their inclinations to middle of the road blue eyed fauxtown are pervasive. 

And they are the perfect example of alchemy. While they were great songwriters for a while, it was the whole of Squeeze that made ArgyBargy & East Side Story. Without, say Gilson Lavis, they are just a notch away from generic 80s pop, in danger of being crushed under the weight of their own perceived self-worth. 

And this collection, whether you consider it a Squeeze record or a D&T joint, is underwhelming. 

Difford was always better when he was writing about something close to his heart, drinking or bad relationships. Tilbrook…well, let’s just say he’s not Elton John. Squeeze lost me during Sweets From a Stranger. This didn’t bring me back.

Many points off not just for boredom and incompetence but because this mars the good name of Squeeze. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/difford-tilbrook/164748535