Disco de Squeeze: “Babylon and On [Japan Bonus Track]”

With 1987's "Babylon and On" we find Squeeze re-focusing a bit & mostly returning to form after their 1985 record "Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti." Whereas "Cosi" was a very experimental record for the band with it's dense hi-tech production and disjointed sounding set of songs, "Babylon" is as straight-forward a pop record as we've heard from the band so far. It is probably the band's most accessible (but not best) album and produced their biggest US hit with the fun single "Hourglass." What is really interesting is just how "normal" this album is. This is the least eclectic batch of tunes so far by Squeeze & marks the band's transition from their former off-kilter new wave leanings to their more mature and middle-of-the-road sound to come on future records. What we get in "Babylon and On" is just plain old pop music - good pop music, mind you, written & performed with skill and with a mature undercurrent that gives the songs some emotional connection. "Cigarette of a Single Man," for example, finds the band reflecting on the need for something more than the freedom of bachelor life noting "he needs the love another has to help him, if another can" and asking repeatedly "what you got to go home to?" Difford and Tilbrook have come a long way since the infectious silliness of "Slap and Tickle." The shuffling accordion driven song "Tough Love" describes the tumultuous relationship between an abusive man and his desperate woman: "he knocked her over, he hit her and told her she's stupid, he's high as a kite once again - she knows that tough love is needed to save the love of her friend." The adult reflections on life are welcome, but it's not all doom and gloom. The aforementioned "Hourglass," "Trust Me to Open My Mouth," and "Striking Matches" are fun upbeat numbers that fit well into the classic Squeeze milieu, and the closing song "Some Americans" is a happy sounding but razor sharp commentary on the US: "Some Americans scare me, the leader of the pack/living in this theatre, I'm waiting for the trap to drop in the show - some Americans gung ho!"

"Babylon and On" is not a classic along the lines of Squeeze's masterpiece "East Side Story," but it is a very good pop album. The songs are consistently well-written, the production is crisp and has aged well, and band is in fine form. Certainly recommended for Squeeze fans and anyone with an appreciation for solid pop music.

I was thrilled to listen to this CD. The last time I heard it was when it was on cassette back in the late 1980s.

Not sure what was in the water but "Strking Matches" sounds exactly like it came off of the Talking Head's album "True Stories". Not familiar enough with Squeeze to say one way or another but, maybe the Heads sounded like Squeeze on that album?