release date: Mar. 1978
format: digital (1997 remaster)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,22]
producer: John Cale
label: A&M Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Sex Master" - 2. "Bang Bang" - 4. "Wild Sewerage Tickles Brazil" - 5. "Out of Control" - 6. "Take Me, I'm Yours" (officiel video) (fra Top Of The Pops)
Studio album debut by London-based new wave quintet Squeeze consisting of Glen Tilbrook on lead vocals & lead guitar, Chris Difford on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Harry Kakoulli on bass, Jools Holland on keyboards, and with Gilson Lavis on drums. In the US and Australia, the band was launched as the U.K. Squeeze. Almost all tracks were written and composed by Difford / Tilbrook (only track #4 is credited the entire band).
Stylistically, it's power pop, new wave with some ties to punk rock, and the band leans on artists such as XTC, Elvis Costello, Buzzcocks, Devo, Talking Heads etc., but it also has strong ties to early proto-punk in the form of bands like Stooges, MC5 and late Velvet Underground. The band name is also the title of the Velvet Underground's controversial '73 release, which was produced by Doug Yule, who had replaced John Cale in late '68, and who then went on to release the album Squeeze as an (official) Velvet Underground album, although neither Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, nor Maureen Tucker contributed - and yes, John Cale is in fact producer on this album. And this role in particular was apparently something that exerted a massive influence on the creation of the album, as Cale reportedly refused to record the songs the band brought with them and instead asked the band to write new songs on the spot, as he thought their material was too soft. Rather than recording an album similar to or following up on the Packet of Three (1977) EP (admittedly also produced by Cale), which had A&M Records sign the band in the first place, this debut is nonetheless a rather different kind of music than the band felt ready to record, but with an ego as a producer on a debut, the young people didn't see otherwise than to please the legendary Mr. Cale. When the album was about to be completed, the band, in support of A&M, managed to add a couple of songs they had initially wanted to record (tracks #2 and #6) - tracks that also ended up as the only singles from the album.
Squeeze is a strange album that most of all sounds like an art rock, pop punk mix and something that points in many directions. And if you only know a little about the music that Squeeze eventually came to release, there is not much pointing in that direction here. However, the album is interesting as a clear example of the many musical trends of the time. In this way, Squeeze is involuntarily launched as a band with hard rock, art rock, and proto-punk roots, although they might rather be part of the 'pure' new wave style.
[ allmusic.com 2,5 / 5 stars ]
