Stream: Squeeze, ‘Cradle to the Grave’

Kevin Bronson on November 12th, 2015

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Chris Difford and and Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze (Photo by Rob O'Connor)

Squeeze’s new album “Cradle to the Grave” sounds a whole lot closer to the cradle than the grave. Forty-plus years since they got together, 33 since “Singles – 45’s and Under” gave them the U.S. exposure they deserved and since and 17 years since their last album, the songwriting team of Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford exude a boyish charm that belies their years, not to mention the band’s history of friction and shifting lineups. Few could have blamed the pair — who made the album with Simon Hanson on drums, Stephen Large on keyboards, John Bentley on bass and a cadre of background vocalists — had they sounded wan, or even bitter, after all these years. The British popsmiths’ 2012 Coachella set (and ensuing reunion dates) suggested this would not be the case; at 61, Difford has lost none of lyrical chops, and Tilbrook, 58, still has that cherubic tenor.

So considering much of the new album is spent looking back, it’s remarkable it sounds so … fizzy. All the Squeeze hallmarks are there — the quick melodic turns, the turns of phrase, the nifty guitar parts and the gospel flourishes. And much of it could give the sunniest of California pop a run for its money: In “Only 15,” the kids “have to be in by 9;” “Sunny” waxes about bike rides in the summer and being young and naive; “Honeytrap” recalls a first romance; and “Haywire” inventories “the images in my memory bank” before turning the page. In the lush “Snap, Crackle and Pop,” Tilbrook proclaims “I’m living with the best of me / and a picture of what used to be.” And sounds fine with it. In the opening scene of the video for “Happy Days,” Difford mouths, “Getting old.” Here’s to still having black coffee in bed, and age being just a number.

||| Watch: The video for “Happy Days”