Squeeze

Domino (Quixotic London)
by Jamie Kiffel

I believe there’s a reason the cover of this disc pictures a sorry-looking dog, likely with his tail hung low between his legs. Squeeze can do better, and it’s easy to pinpoint what’s wrong. Once masters of power pop, tightly-written stories and syllables that nailed every beat, the old Squeeze left our tongues tied, trying to sing those impossible chorus hooks that rolled out of their unmistakably English mouths so easily. Now, banal references to Kurt Cobain and The Simpsons leave lots of room for more words to fill the stumbling musical space. The lyrics themselves are sometimes happily, unmistakably Squeeze (“We used to stay up all night/with our eyes all bloodshot and wonky,” for instance). However, the songs’ attempts to attack broad themes like sleeping with a friend and being a divorced dad can’t keep up with the loosely written tunes which stab around blindly between the measures. These might be salvaged as remakes on a tribute album.