Album Review: Trixies by Squeeze

When the world at large considers the great pop songwriting duos, they may sometimes forgot about Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze, a pair once hailed as the "heirs to Lennon and McCartney's throne." But not only have they provided us with catchy songs that often tell stories no one else is telling, they've been doing it for well over 50 years. Trixies sees Squeeze telling the first stories they ever told in song with the polish of 50+ years of experience. 

In 1973, a young Chris Difford placed an ad in a shop window looking for a guitarist for his (then) non-existent band. Glenn Tilbrook was the only answer, and the two began writing songs together quickly. By 1974, the duo had a full band and a concept album under their belt. This original collection of songs written when Difford was 19 and Tilbrook was 16 didn't see the light of day for years, making for an emotional rerecording that has reportedly led to some newfound creativity. Tilbrook has said "The act of revisiting the Trixies songs had me in tears, [...] partly because they’re so good, but also because I’m aware of all the stuff that I’ve still yet to hear and write." Reportedly, an album of new material was recorded simultaneously. 

Trixies takes us into the fictional world of Trixies, a seedy night club in the hip part of town. The album cover hints at the noirish world we will soon find ourselves engulfed in sonically and lyrically. A blend of organ & Moog combine for the jazzy retro prelude to the drama that will unfold on "What More Can I Say," the song which takes place during the falling action of a late night at Trixies.

"You Get the Feeling" is a dreamy song that speaks to the positive elements of Trixies, identifying it as a hangout for dates, for great food and music.

Of course, at the end of the song, we are thrown into "The Place We Call Mars," a track that seems to pay tribute to the music of the mid 70s when this album was written. The story is a little hard to follow, though it seems to detail a femme fatale at the end of her rope. 

The energy is pumped up for "Hell On Earth," as we learn more about the criminal activity in the club and are introduced to more and more of the cast of characters that call Trixies home, including the mysterious and often illusive "Trixie." In "The Dancer," we see how this place can break a spirit, and are finally introduced to Trixie in the flesh. Chris Difford takes lead vocals on "The Dancer" and later on "It's Over," providing a very fitting husky noir voice to both tracks. "It's Over" is a beautiful ballad of loss.

One of my personal favorite tracks on the albums is "Good Riddance," the chorus of which is an earworm. "Good Riddance" introduces pedal steel, harpsichord, vibraphone, and celeste to the arrangement, along with a perfect blend of Difford and Tilbrook's voices.

I'm occasionally left thinking what a great musical this album would make, the vignettes of the songs creating great emotional moments that would pull a story along. The slight shifts in genre, while not uncommon for a Squeeze album, would also add to character shifts in a musical. "The Jaguars," for example, represents a shift to rockabilly, but also to a group of outsiders with a different attitude toward Trixies.

The album closes with the first two singles released, "Trixies, Pt. 1" and "Trixies, Pt. 2." Each song tells a different story about the seedy business to be sought around Trixies, with a brothel above and an illegal gambling den below. 

Squeeze have always been great at storytelling, but what Difford and Tilbrook have done for Trixies is nothing short of amazing. Not only is it a testament to their songwriting abilities that they wrote these songs at such a young age, but it also shows great skill to have brought these songs to life in the modern era. These songs not only share a common lore, but a common musical identity which sweeps you away to a world that doesn't exist. 

Squeeze are a pop/rock band from London, England.

Trixies can be found on all streaming platforms.

Countdown to 30: My Favorite Album From 2017

 2017

In 2017, I was very wrapped up in work yet again. For this year, I only have one runner-up.

The very young pop-punk rockers The Regrettes released their debut album, Feel Your Feelings Fool! in 2017 when the lead singer/songwriter Lydia Night was just 16. Despite their young ages, the band was able to channel both punk rock and '60s sounds with some riot grrl elements dashed in.  Night has also stated that she fell in love for the first time while writing and recording the album, giving it the emotional power of first love on top of the power it already had. 

Mike Elizondo produced this album and their follow-up. Having seen them live, I feel like Elizondo did a great job of stepping back to let the band shine. 

Topics range from crushes to empowering songs about acceptance of women as they are, including the bits men might be uncomfortable with. "A Living Human Girl" and "Seashore" both relate to female empowerment, individuality, and acceptance of oneself. "Hey Now" is definitely a song for a crush. Some songs are fast and loud like "Hot" and "Juicebox Baby," while "Pale Skin" is a little slower. 

The Regrettes were just getting started on this album, yet it's still one of the best releases of the year. 

Squeeze released The Knowledge in 2017 and it might be one of my favorite albums they've done. On their 2015 album, Cradle to the Grave, the main purpose was to write a soundtrack album. On The Knowledge, they had the opportunity to explore more topics and musical styles. They write about politics, record collectors and nostalgia. 

"Innocence in Paradise" was the album's lead single and the spiritual title track for the album. The arrangement brings to mind Westerns and desolation. The second single was "Patchouli," a song that reminisces about a simpler time. 

"A&E" and "Rough Ride" conquer social topics, with "A&E" calling for a change to the English healthcare system and "Rough Ride" discussing wealth disparity. "The Ones" is also an exploration of the current state-of-affairs, focusing on fake news and wealth disparity once again. "Final Score" is the sad tale of a man coming to terms with the sexual abuse he experienced as a child at the hands of his coach. 

Much lighter topics can be found in "Every Story" and "Albatross," the latter of which is a fun track about an aging record collector.

With my friend Felicia outside of the former 
Nickelodeon Studios in Florida, 2017.

I've been a fan of Squeeze since high school when my mom would play a cassette of Squeeze tracks in the car. Since then, I've seen them a couple of times and even have tickets to see them open for Hall and Oates this Summer. I have also had the good fortune to interview Chris Difford for Rebeat (online music magazine). When The Knowledge came out, I was sent a review copy. 

I love The Knowledge for a number of reasons. I think the melodies are interesting, I love the serious turn the lyrics took. Yolanda Charles provides fresh but fitting basslines. The album also hit me at just the right time in my life. I was listening to it the same time as I was reading John Green's Turtles All the Way Down, which felt like a very personal book that resonated with my life, and I felt that the mood of The Knowledge was very similar. "Patchouli" will always seem like the perfect soundtrack to that book. It's also just one of my favorite songs on the album, along with "Albatross," "Innocence in Paradise" and "Every Story."

It's been four years since Squeeze released an album. I'm sure there will be another one but if not, this would be a good note to go out on.

Let's see that leaderboard!

Join me tomorrow for my favorite album from 2018.

Album Review: The Knowledge by Squeeze

Just over two years ago, Squeeze released Cradle to the Grave, which also served as the marvellous soundtrack to the BBC series of the same name. Prior to that, their last release of original material was in 1998. So one could argue that this is the first album of uninhibited songs in almost twenty years.

Now that's not to say Cradle to the Grave was without merit. It was a great piece. But here, we are truly back to Squeeze at their core. Even the cover itself somehow harkens back to the band's earlier days, while truly looking nothing like any of their earlier album artwork. 

The first two tracks on the album have served as the released singles so far. My favorite of the two is "Patchouli," a melancholy tune of remembering a love lost. The intro blends a late '60s sunshine/power pop vibe with some mild country sounds before heading into the vocals. "Innocence in Paradise," the album opener, begins more roughly, but rolls into a soft desert-ready psychedelic track about isolation. Difford's low backing vocals act as the audio shadow of the lone traveller. Both songs are both nostalgic and lonely, but "Innocence" definitely conjures up a visual.

On the third track, Squeeze announce that they are getting political. "A&E" (that stands for "accident and emergency" for those not from the U.K.) tells the story of a man taking his injured wife to the hospital and waiting "all night just to be seen" while "The nurses looked completely drained//but nice as pie and so composed." The narrator goes on to say that he's while he's not a politician, he can see that something is wrong with the healthcare system, and that "Mental health our doctors know//Is underfunded and unexposed." It's certainly an unusual subject matter for a song, but somehow makes the topic sit well inside the song without sounding contrived or stilted.

The political theme continues throughout the album, and is revisited, on "Rough Ride." The song is presented almost as a mini-musical, beginning with a chorus, and separating verses between Glenn Tilbrook and an operatic singer (Cara McHardy). Tilbrook bemoans the classist system, with particular sympathy for the young generation, for whom "Affordable housing [is] an unobtainable dream." The narrator also sings the very resonant line "My children are working all the hours they can//to live in this city we love//But they can't imagine a life like I've had//Either you're rich or it's tough." These verses are contrasted by verses from the opera singer who makes generalizations, and seems to represent the established, out-of-touch wealth. The choice of the opera singer is a smart choice artistically, although musically, it falls to the grating side as it attempts to fit where it doesn't belong. If one can look at it as an art piece rather than a pop song, one could argue that the point is that these ideas don't mesh well, creating the divide in our society.

Possibly the most overtly political message for Americans comes on "The Ones," in which the narrator complains that "Fake news keeps on coming." The narrator continues to discuss how misinformation is shaping our divided societies, a truth that had been becoming more and more evident in the real world. A meaningful sentiment from "Rough Ride" is echoed, "The young are working harder//for less than they deserve." While these are undeniably world issues, I can't help but feel that "The Ones" is as strong a take on American problems as "A&E" is on British ones. But "The Ones" is not without hope, that "the best is still to come" and recommends that we "Take care//Of the ones we love." This is all presented in one of the catchiest tunes on the album, and one of the stronger tracks, which very much beckons to the sound of classic Squeeze without sounding stale.

Another song that rings relevant with the current headlines is "Final Score," a track about a boy who was molested by his coach coming to terms with the abuse years later, and the coach unable to reconcile the thoughts of his sins. Pedal steel wails throughout the tune, giving it spooky country vibes. It's not the strongest piece on the album, but it does tell a powerful and unfortunately not unusual story in our modern world. 

Album closer "Two Forks," echoes "The Ones" seemingly in reference to a domestic partnership this time. The opening line is almost word for word the same, but the sound and subject matters of the songs are completely different. "Two Forks" is about the divide between two people, now separated, who were once close.

Between the politically-charged songs, there are a number of stories being told. "Every Story," sounding every bit the classic Squeeze tune, tells the story of a small community in which gossip spreads like wildfire. Indian harmonium and celesta give "Every Story" the feel of Squeeze circa the early '80s, as does the subject matter. 

On the other hand, "Please Be Upstanding" tells a story that may never have told in the band's earlier years, of a man sinking into depression, possibly fearing his wife is cheating, and learning that he has cancer. The full story is a little unclear, but the raw fear the man feels is exposed throughout, which provides a unique perspective. 

"Albatross" might be the most fun The Knowledge offers us, telling the tale of an old record collector. Bongos separate the song from the fray, but so does the playful nature. The method of storytelling on this particular track reminds me of one of Nick Hornby's characters on Lonely Avenue.  

All the songs on this album have merit. I am surprised by how many are openly political, not just because Squeeze have never been the most political band, but because of the perspective they have on politics. I interviewed Chris Difford earlier this year for Rebeat and I asked if he thought he could still accurately portray the working class, since he's been a musician for so long. Difford said "As one grows older, it’s harder to write in that style." But in listening to The Knowledge, it's clear that though his perspective on life has changed, Difford is not out-of-touch with the young working class. He and Tilbrook now look to them as their children rather than themselves, but they still recognize the struggles. The storytelling has now moved on to be about men their own age, but this keeps the perspectives as fresh as ever. 

The Knowledge is definitely well worth a listen if you're a fan of Squeeze. And if you've never heard of them before, I'd say it's still worth a listen, because the album speaks for itself without any knowledge of the band's earlier work. 

Squeeze are a pop/rock band from London, England.

The Knowledge is out now and can be purchased here.

State of the Music Address: April 2017

It's that time of year again, in which it seems like there's some really good stuff either out or coming out in the music world. Just in case I don't get time to cover it all, let me give you a quick rundown.

-First of all, Michael Nesmith just released Infinite Tuesday: An Autobiographical Riff, and it's a great read. I'm doing my best to get a review published soon, but in case I don't manage to, I just want to say something about it.

-Lots of albums have been coming out lately. It's been enough in a short space of time that I'm having trouble keeping up with them all. Ray Davies released Americana, Dave and Russ Davies released Open Road, and Feist came out with Pleasure, her first album in six years!

-Procol Harum also came out with their first new album in fourteen years, which I reviewed over at Rebeat.

-Oh yeah, and last month I did an interview with Chris Difford of Squeeze, which was an absolute pleasure.

-7 Inches for Planned Parenthood is currently taking preorders for their exclusive boxed set to benefit the aforementioned Planned Parenthood.

-My radio show, One-Mind Tracks is live every Thursday at 7 and streaming online! This week we're listening to some tracks about May flowers.

-If you're in central Ohio, The Xx are playing in Columbus Friday, and we've got more upcoming shows from Spoon (with Tennis as the opener!), and an arena show featuring the unlikely duo of Tears for Fears and Hall and Oates. Later this summer, there's Deerhoof (at Ace of Cups), The Mountain Goats, and Portugal. The Man.

-As I mentioned briefly, I'm trying to get some reviews churned out quickly, as well as a few "One-Mind Tracks" style articles soon, to co-ordinate with the show. Stick around!