Squeeze Get A Big, Two-Dimensional Thumbs-Up

noah | September 13, 2007 4:30 am

Because I am, somehow, still completely shell-shocked by the Video Music Awards–I blame the 12-frame split screens during the fleeting moments that were devoted to enumerating nominees, which made up for their brevity by being completely fucking overstimulating–I am going to indulge myself (and, I suspect, delight a reader or two) by posting this clip of pop titans Squeeze lipsyncing their fantastic song “Up The Junction” in the midst of a Top Of The Pops set that’s made up of what looks at first glance to be a forest of thumbs in the “I approve” position. Come on, this set is so much cooler than the Sky Villa!

Anyway, “Junction” is merely one of the many incredible tunes that the band has put out during its existence, which has been marked by whip-smart, yet heartbreaking lyrics and choruses that are like brain-Velcro. I saw the current incarnation of Squeeze in New York a few weeks back, and the show was a ton of fun; Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford ran through most of their biggest hits in absolutely rip-roaring fashion, and they threw in some more recent tracks like their power-ballad “Walk Away” for good measure. “Junction” was a highlight, and the guitar solo in “Black Coffee In Bed” still sounded note-perfect. Also, in the one-day-shy-of-one-year history of this site, we’ve never done a post on this band, which seems like a major oversight, given that a) I listened to them every day during the summer of 1995 and b) their catalog has at least 100 songs that could be used as examples in the How To Write A Perfect Pop song textbook.

Squeeze – Up The Junction (TOTP) [YouTube] Squeeze [MySpace]