Squeeze Trixies
Squeeze's Trixies arrives as a recovered teenage fantasia that turns youthful ambition and Soho nightlife into a theatrical rock opera with real pop rewards. Across professional reviews critics point to the record's nostalgic 1970s influences and vivid character vignettes, and most agree the collection contains standou
What More Can I Say is the album's best track because it immediately transports the listener and sets the Soho-club scene.
The album's core strengths are its theatrical conceit and period-accurate musical details, though it lacks standalone hooks.
Best for listeners looking for nostalgia and youthful imagination, starting with What More Can I Say and Trixies, Pt. 2.
Full consensus notes
Squeeze's Trixies arrives as a recovered teenage fantasia that turns youthful ambition and Soho nightlife into a theatrical rock opera with real pop rewards. Across professional reviews critics point to the record's nostalgic 1970s influences and vivid character vignettes, and most agree the collection contains standout moments that earn it strong consideration in the band's catalog. The album has achieved a 79/100 consensus score across 10 professional reviews, a signal that reviewers consistently found charm and craft even when they noted unevenness.
Critics praise specific songs as the best songs on Trixies: “The Place We Call Mars” and “Hell on Earth” recur as highlights for glam-inflected drama and gospel-tinged intensity, while “What More Can I Say”, “Trixies, Pt. 2” and “Good Riddance” are regularly singled out for melody, atmosphere and theatrical detail. Reviews from Mojo, Spin and PopMatters celebrate the record's theatrical storytelling, baroque pop hooks and Difford-Tilbrook juvenilia given new life, describing passages that range from Bowie-esque reach to pub-rock grit and R&B-flavored sleaze.
While several critics framed Trixies as a rewarding curiosity rather than a straight return to Squeeze's most iconic hits, the consensus suggests the album is worth listening to for fans and newcomers curious about the band's origins and narrative ambition. Some reviewers noted a lack of standalone pop hooks in places, but overall the professional reviews favor the album's character studies, period-authentic production and moments of genuine melodicism. Below follow the full reviews that expand on why these tracks and themes made critics take notice.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
What More Can I Say
3 mentions
"The proceedings begin with “What More Can I Say” and “You Get the Feeling,” two breezy acoustic numbers"— Spin
Trixies, Pt. 2
2 mentions
"The band are watching another fight/The heroin pushers appear at night."— Louder Than War
The Place We Call Mars
7 mentions
"Dyed-in-the-wool Bowie fans, they walk the more fatalistic passages of Ziggy Stardust on The Place We Call Mars"— Record Collector
Dyed-in-the-wool Bowie fans, they walk the more fatalistic passages of Ziggy Stardust on The Place We Call Mars
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
What More Can I Say
You Get the Feeling
The Place We Call Mars
Hell on Earth
The Dancer
Good Riddance
Don't Go Out in the Dark
Why Don't You
Anything but Me
It's Over
The Jaguars
Trixies, Pt. 1
Trixies, Pt. 2
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What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 10 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Squeeze's Trixies reads like a recovered fantasia, and the review makes clear the best songs are those that conjure place and character, notably “What More Can I Say” and “The Dancer”. The writer revels in the record's comparative innocence and precocious variety, praising “What More Can I Say” for transporting the listener via "sleepy electric piano and jazzy guitar" and “The Dancer” for its demeaning striptease vignette. The tone is celebratory and slightly astonished, positioning these best tracks as central to why Trixies might even rival the band's finest albums.
Key Points
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What More Can I Say is the album's best track because it immediately transports the listener and sets the Soho-club scene.
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The album's core strength is its youthful inventiveness and theatrical variety across song forms.
Themes
Sp
Critic's Take
Squeeze's Trixies reads like a recovered treasure, the sort of youthful rock opera that still thrills for its ambition and songs. The reviewer's delight lands on best songs like “What More Can I Say” and “The Place We Call Mars”, praised for breezy acoustic charm and Bowie-esque glam reach respectively. He relishes the theatrical sweep and vivid characters, arguing that tracks such as “Hell on Earth” and “The Jaguars” carry Stiff-era energy and cheeky pop invention. Ultimately, the record feels like Difford and Tilbrook's late-career masterpiece, a collection whose best tracks make the case for Trixies as essential listening for fans seeking the best songs on Trixies.
Key Points
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The best song is praised for its Bowie-esque glam and Tilbrook's Mick Ronson channeling on "The Place We Call Mars".
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The album's core strengths are theatrical storytelling, sophisticated songwriting, and stylistic variety rooted in pub rock.
Themes
mu
Critic's Take
In his bright, conversational tone Robert Plummer celebrates Squeeze's recovered youthful ambition on Trixies, naming "What More Can I Say" and "Trixies, Pt. 2" among the album's best songs for setting the scene and turning up the sleaze in satisfying, theatrical detail. He delights in the record's baroque pop melodicism and aching harmonies, and treats "Good Riddance" and "Don't Go Out In The Dark" as highlights that prove the songwriting was already fully formed. The narrative voice is warm and admiring, relishing how these long-lost songs finally get their moment and why fans seeking the best tracks on Trixies will find real rewards.
Key Points
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The best song is the opening "What More Can I Say" because it functions as a compelling overture that sets the album’s weary, theatrical mood.
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The album’s core strengths are its vivid nightclub storytelling, memorable melodies, and the emotional maturity of Difford and Tilbrook’s early songwriting finally realised.
Critic's Take
In his measured, affectionate voice Eoghan Lyng argues that Squeeze's Trixies is both a vivid rock opera and a collection of strong singles, with “Hell on Earth” and “The Place We Call Mars” standing out for their hooks and dramatic flourishes. Lyng writes like a music scholar who still loves to be surprised, praising the gospel-tinged intensity of “Hell on Earth” and the Paul McCartney-esque guitar excitement of “The Place We Call Mars”. He flags “Anything but Me” and “The Dancer” for their period-authentic piano and weathered vocals, noting how the record wears time like character rather than damage. The result answers searches for the best songs on Trixies by pointing listeners toward those tracks while insisting the album remains fun and imaginatively told.
Key Points
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“Hell on Earth” is the best song because of its gospel foundation, dramatic piano and exhilarating instrumental bridge.
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The album's core strengths are its youthful imagination, tight songwriting, and ability to sound both classic and fun.
Themes
Re
Critic's Take
Squeeze revisit youth and sleaze with Trixies, a collection where the best songs - “Hell on Earth” and “The Place We Call Mars” - wear their influences proudly and yield irresistible hooks. The reviewer lingers on Difford’s vivid character studies, noting how tracks such as “The Dancer” and “Anything but Me” combine narrative grit with Tilbrook’s knack for melody. It reads like a formative suite rescued from a bygone South London nightclub, songs that, even now, could still worm their way into a setlist. The record is affectionate to its era while offering moments that feel like early templates of the band’s later singles craft.
Key Points
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The best song, notably “Hell on Earth”, stands out for its vivid organ lines and theatrical production.
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The album’s core strengths are Difford’s cinematic character sketches and Tilbrook’s melodic instincts rooted in 1970s pop.
Themes
Critic's Take
In a clear-eyed reappraisal of Squeeze's past, Squeeze revive a teenage concept with unexpected flair on Trixies. The review leans toward praise for songs like “The Place We Call Mars” and “The Jaguars” as evidence that the Difford-Tilbrook juvenilia already contained the seeds of their later mastery. The record's theatrical bent and busier melodies make the best tracks feel like curiosities from an alternate Squeeze rather than simple archival leftovers. Overall, the critic finds Trixies smart and unexpected, a show of accomplished production and limber arrangements that make the best songs stand out.
Key Points
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The Jaguars is the best track because it most convincingly channels classic Squeeze and could have fit on earlier albums.
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The album's core strengths are ambitious production and a theatrical, alternate-universe sound that reveals the songwriters' early promise.
Themes
Critic's Take
Squeeze's Trixies is presented as a theatrical curiosity and the best tracks - notably “The Place We Call Mars” and “Hell on Earth” - showcase the 1974 origins with vivid borrowings from Bowie and Sparks. Hann writes with an amused, slightly wry detachment, pointing out that those songs contain "great bits" where the band-to-be peeks through, but he insists the album lacks the hooks to stand alone. The review frames the album as a rewarding experience in performance context rather than a replacement for classics like Trixies's predecessors.
Key Points
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The best song moments, led by "The Place We Call Mars", work because they vividly channel 1974 influences and hint at the future Squeeze sound.
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The album's core strengths are its theatrical conceit and period-accurate musical details, though it lacks standalone hooks.
Themes
Th
Critic's Take
The review reads like a rueful cheer for Squeeze, noting how Trixies is a fanciful rejig of a teenage concept, performed with the weariness and toil of a band that "have worked their arses off". The writer frames the album as both nostalgic and imperfect, explaining that the central idea from 1974 still flickers but sometimes sounds youthful in a way that undercuts polish. The tone is conversational and slightly wry, positioning Trixies as an interesting, flawed curio rather than a triumphant return.
Key Points
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No individual tracks are discussed by name, so no ranked best song can be identified from the review.
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The album's core strength is its nostalgic concept and the evident toil and craft of the band's central duo.