''Squeeze Machine'' is the sixth studio album by American

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

band

Those Darn Accordions Those Darn Accordions, commonly abbreviated as TDA, are an American accordion band from San Francisco, California, originally formed in 1989 by Linda "Big Lou" Seekins. Boasting several accordionists whose numbers have fluctuated over the years ...

, released on September 18, 2007, by Globe Records.

Overview

Continuing in the musical direction set by their 2001 EP ''

Amped Amped may refer to: *''Amped'' video games series: **'' Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding'' **''Amped 2'' **''Amped 3'' * ''Amped'' (116 Clique EP) * ''Amped'' (Seven Witches album), 2005 * ''Amped'' (Those Darn Accordions EP), 2002 * ''Amped'' (novel ...

'', ''Squeeze Machine'' is arguably TDA's most overtly

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

-oriented studio album, featuring a more pronounced use of

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

accompanying the band's trademark accordions. The album also features a

polka Polka is a dance style and genre of dance music in originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though generally associated with Czech and Central European culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the ...

by way of "Glass of Beer Polka", a duet with comedian

Drew Carey Drew Allison Carey (born May 23, 1958) is an American comedian, actor and game show host. After serving in the United States Marine Corps, U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, Carey gained stardom in his own Situa ...

, songs in

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

and

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

styles, and even a

piano ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Ballad ...

. Like all of TDA's albums, ''Squeeze Machine'' includes a few cover songs, here a version of

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

s "

Back In Black ''Back in Black'' is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC, released on 25 July 1980, by Albert Productions and Atlantic Records. It was the band's first album to feature Brian Johnson as lead singer, following the death of the ...

" utilizing heavily

distortion In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signal ...

effects on the accordions, and a straightforward take on " It's Now Or Never", which originally appeared on TDA's first studio album, 1992's ''

Vongole Fisarmonica ''Vongole Fisarmonica'' is the debut album by American accordion band Those Darn Accordions, released in 1992 by Globe Records. The album was originally released only on cassette tape before later being made available for digital download on iTun ...

''. Because of its low-key independent release, ''Squeeze Machine'' dropped under the radar of most major music publications, though internet reviewers were largely positive. Of the more notable reviews, ''Lets Polka'', though mildly lamenting TDA's evolution from an accordion band to a rock band, summarized "''Squeeze Machine'' does an excellent job showcasing TDA's strengths: catchy, offbeat, high-energy, accordion-driven tunes. It's tough to keep things fresh after 15 years, but Those Darn Accordions are clearly up to the challenge".

Track listing

Personnel

;Those Darn Accordions *Paul Rogers - vocals, accordion, piano, ukulele *Susie Davis - vocals, accordion, acoustic guitar, glockenspiel *Carri Abrahms - vocals, accordion *Suzanne Garramone - accordion *Lewis Wallace - bass, vocals *Michael Messer - drums, percussion ;Additional musicians *

- vocals on "Glass Of Beer Polka" *Evan Price - fiddle on "Heads And Horns" *Chen Zhao - violin on "Cocktails In Tehran" *Norton Buffalo - harmonica on "Heads And Horns" *Austin deLone - electric guitar on "Blame It On Those Darn Accordions" *Johny Blood - tuba on "Glass Of Beer Polka" *Scoop McGuire - bass on "Vagabond Girl" *Robert Powell - guitar and pedal steel on "Vagabond Girl" *Bob Daspit - tambourine on "This Song" *Lisa Redfern - hand claps on "Heads And Horns"

References

{{Authority control 2007 albums Those Darn Accordions albums