Album of the Day

Squeeze co-founder Glenn Tilbrook described PLAY as the beginning of the band’s renaissance period, and it does sound like the U.K. power-pop heroes have found a second wind. Their sole release for Reprise Records, the album saw the group down to a quartet after Jools Holland departed for a BBC career; old friend Steve Nieve helps out on keyboards, with Bruce Hornsby as an additional guest. Tilbrook and songwriting partner Chris Difford come up with an immaculately crafted set of originals (“Satisfied,” “Wicked and Cruel,” and “Walk a Straight Line” among them) that loosely follow a relationship hitting the skids. A mellower, more mature outing from Squeeze, this 1991 collection will grow in appeal every time you press PLAY.