Argy Bargy LP

If any one album were responsible for sowing the seeds of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook's reputation as the new Lennon and McCartney, it's Argybargy, Squeeze's third album and undisputed breakthrough. Squeeze made a great leap forward between their awkward debut and its great sequel, Cool for Cats, but that distance is small compared to the gap between Cool for Cats and Argybargy. Cool for Cats was the work of a rock & roll band -- one that lathered on the keyboards and herky-jerky rhythms, but these were kind of variations on one sound (if not quite one theme). Argybargy doesn't stay in one place; it's restless and crackling with colors, bursting into life with "Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)," a vivid portrait of a seaside vacation where Difford's vignettes are made all the more vivid by Tilbrook's bright, invigorating pop. As the band's chief melodicist, it's easy to place much of the weight of Squeeze's progression on either Tilbrook or perhaps the band as a whole, as one