Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford of Squeeze. Photo by Danny Clifford
The British rock band Squeeze is fitting in a stop in Portland as it makes its way across the country on a 24-date headlining tour. Additionally, the band is playing a handful of shows opening for Hall & Oates.
There aren’t too many albums out there that I’ve never tired of, and the Squeeze compilation “45’s and Under” is one of them. I’ve had a vinyl copy since college and still feel the same way about its dozen tracks as I did way back when in my freshman-year dorm: I adore them.
Never stale, always clever and packed with highly listenable ’80s-era tracks like “Tempted,” “Black Coffee in Bed,” “Cool for Cats,” “Annie Get Your Gun” and especially “Up the Junction,” the album never disappoints. But don’t call them a nostalgia act. All told they’ve released 15 studio albums including “The Knowledge” in 2017.
When “Tempted” comes on the radio, the volume goes up and I hang on every note, every line, especially “At my beside empty pocket, a foot without a sock/Your body gets much closer, I fumble for the clock/Alarmed by the seduction/I wish that it would stop.” Truth be told, I haven’t been able to buy a toothbrush without singing the song’s opening line “I bought a toothbrush” for as long as I can remember.
The heart and soul of Squeeze are their two founding members, singer Glenn Tillbrook and guitarist Chris Difford. If you think I didn’t run up to the latter on the street in Boston before a show in 2016, you’d be mistaken. Difford was a kind chap to chat with and was happy to pose for a selfie with me and my spouse, Tracy. That was the one and only time I’ve seen Squeeze, and I have no doubt the Portland show will be as sensational as that one.
Turns out “Tempted” is a favorite one for Difford to play live. During a Zoom conversation from his tour bus parked in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Difford told me that to him, the song opens up like a flower. “It envelops everybody and that makes me feel really lovely.”
Difford also shared that the tour has been going well so far. When they’re doing the Hall & Oates dates they stick to the hits but when they’re headlining, like with the Portland show, they also throw in some deeper album cuts. The tour is a long one but Difford doesn’t mind. “Once you get out in front of an audience you realize how lucky you are.”
Squeeze has been touring off and on since the late ’70s and it’s safe to say they’ve played many of their songs hundreds, if not thousands, of times live. Does it ever get old? Not for Difford. “I feel full of joy and I feel very grateful.” Not only that, but he continues to be a student of his own music. “As many times as I’ve played “Pulling Mussels (From The Shell),” the more times I play it the more I learn more about the song and how to perform it.”
Difford and Tillbrook are one of the most solid, talented and brilliant songwriting teams out there. Difford is the lyrics guy and Tillbrook writes the music, and together they’re an unstoppable force of song-crafting mastery.
But don’t just take my word for it. I reached out to local Squeeze super-fan Beth Round of Westbrook and asked why she loves them so much. “They were the first band I fell in love with. Each song tells a story with melodies you never mind getting stuck in your head. That and they are the most fun and satisfying live band for fans.”
As for me, my favorite Squeeze song is “Up the Junction.” The song has no chorus and the name of song is only sung once, at the very end. “Up the Junction” is a series of rhymes that tell of young love turned sour. Despite the bad turn things take, the song is bright and cheery and I can’t hear it without smiling. Plus Tilbrook’s rhyming game can’t be beat. “I got a job with Stanley, he said I’d come in handy/And started me on Monday, so I had a bath on Sunday” – 14-karat lyrical gold.
The same could be said for “Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)” and its lines: “Squinting faces at the sky/A Harold Robbins paperback, Surfers drop their boards and dry. And everybody wants a hat.” This one does have a refrain, and I can’t wait to sing along with it, even if its through a face covering.
Then there’s “Cool For Cats,” one of the rare ones where Difford takes lead vocals with his distinct Cockney accent. This is a jump-up-and-down-like-you’re-on-a-pogo-stick kind of song. “To change the mood a little I’ve been posing down the pub/On seeing my reflection, I’m looking slightly rough.” The song bounces along a zippy clip and never lets up.
“Black Coffee in Bed” is another gold nugget from the first keyboard riff and Tillbrook’s opening line: “There’s a stain on my notebook where my coffee cup was.” This one’s all about the backing vocals and I’ve started practicing my “fire in my eyes,” “hardly contain” and especially “black black black,” though I don’t need to. The song and its six-minutes of excellence have been ingrained in brain for decades.
Tillbrook said that at the moment, the band is focused on their current tour but within a few years, work on a new album will begin. That’s very cool news for this cat.
The Portland show was supposed to happen last year, but we all know what happened. Thankfully, live music is back, at least for the moment, and this fully vaccinated fan can’t wait to see Squeeze.
Squeeze will most certainly be playing “Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)” and Difford has every intention of cracking open a lobster while in Maine.
Squeeze
9 p.m. Monday, Aug. 16. Aura, 121 Center St., Portland, $55 to $80, 18-plus. auramaine.com.
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