Trixies is alright

I generally resist writing about bands I like because I’m conscious that no-one’s really interested in another person’s taste in music.

Nevertheless, you may be aware that I have a long-standing interest in Squeeze, a band I first saw play live in 1978 when I was a student in Aberdeen and they were supporting Eddie and the Hot Rods.

Since then I’ve purchased every studio album since Cool For Cats (1978), several compilations, and one live album. I’ve also seen them play live on many occasions, including Hammersmith Palais (1982), Hammersmith Apollo (1985 and 1989), Glasgow Concert Hall (1993), and the Royal Albert Hall (2012). More recently I’ve seen them in Harrogate (2015) and Ipswich (2022).

I’m not a diehard or uncritical ‘fan’ because, with one or two exceptions, the albums are patchy and inconsistent, which is probably why their best selling album is a greatest hits compilation that featured the early hit singles for which they are still best known.

In the intervening years the band has broken up and reformed twice, with only two of the original members (the songwriting duo of Glen Tilbrook and Chris Difford) remaining. A revolving door policy has meant that other band members have come and gone with infuriating frequency, although the current nine-piece band is arguably the best by some distance.

When Squeeze released The Knowledge, their 15th studio album, in 2017, it disappeared almost without trace. Tilbrook has since revealed that a record company executive told him, “Nobody is interested in a Squeeze record. What matters is Squeeze’s story”. He clearly listened because Trixies, the band’s new album, does indeed have a story. Two in fact.

First, the songs were originally written in 1974 when Tilbrook was 16 and lyricist Chris Difford was 19. They pre-date the band’s first album, released in 1977, by three years and they were mothballed, and largely forgotten, until a few years ago when the demos were discovered on an old cassette and the band began to play one or two live.

Second, the album was conceived as a song cycle or musical about a fictional and rather seedy nightclub called Trixies, hence the name of the album, which was recorded by the current band.

Whoever was hired to promote it has done an incredible job. In recent weeks interviews with Difford, 70, and Tilbrook, 67, have appeared in the Guardian and The Times, and there have been numerous features and reviews both here and in the USA, most notably in the New York Times and Variety.

There have also been multiple TV and radio appearances, including a report on ITV News and a five-minute item on Channel 5 News. For a band whose commercial peak was more than 45 years ago, that’s remarkable.

This week, on the back of that, the album entered the UK album chart at #15, the Scottish (!) album chart at #2, and the independent UK album chart at #1.

I’ve no idea how that translates in terms of physical sales (CDs and vinyl) because today’s charts are a mystery to me. Apparently they’re based on ‘sales of CDs, downloads, vinyl, audio streams and video streams’, but positions must be heavily influenced by streaming because how else would vintage albums by Fleetwood Mac, Michael Jackson and Abba, released several decades ago, be in this week’s top 20 alongside contemporary albums by Harry Styles and Morrissey?

What I do know is that pre-orders (which I imagine are largely purchased by dedicated fans weeks or months in advance) are included in the sales figures for the first week of release, which is why so many albums appear in the top 100 for one week only and then drop out, never to be heard of again.

Time will tell whether Trixies has any legs, but reviews have generally been positive. Of the 13 tracks, I would happily add five or six to my all-time Squeeze playlist, which isn’t a bad return.

Later this year the band will play an arena tour including the O2 in London. Personally I’m not a fan of cavernous venues and I imagine the set will focus heavily on the early singles which I’ve heard many times and have no particular wish to hear (live) again.

Then again, a cabaret-style tour of clubs and theatres like Koko (formerly Camden Palace), where Squeeze performed the new album in full last week (complete with ‘showgirls in feather headdresses and silver catsuits’) is infinitely less profitable. Far more fun, though.

Update: A vinyl single (Trixies Pts 1 and 2), that was ‘bundled’ with pre-orders, is at #5 in the ‘Physical Singles Chart’. The album, meanwhile, is at #3 in the ‘Physical Albums Chart’. Confused? Bring back Pick of the Pops!

See also:
Squeeze review: It’s about time their musical got a proper staging (The Times)
Squeeze wrote a rock opera five decades ago. It’s coming out now. (New York Times)
Squeeze’s Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford go time-tripping with ‘Trixies,’ a terrific new concept album they wrote but never recorded in the 1970s (Variety)
Squeeze: Trixies review – finally completed first album proves teenage dreams are hard to beat (Guardian)
Squeeze Trixies reviewed: Lost 1974 musical arises from the grave (Mojo)

Streaming? These are my favourite tracks on the album:
You Get The Feeling
The Dancer
Don’t Go Out In The Dark
Why Don’t You
Trixies (Part Two)

Last but not least, a live cover version of the Wings’ single ‘Junior’s Farm’, recorded in the Radio 2 Piano Room last month, accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra.