2000 Great Songs #1225: Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)

I wrote at length in my book how discovering Squeeze's East Side Story, while on a high school visit to my cousin's college dorm, was one of those life-altering moments, the realization that there was incredible new music coming out that wasn't getting anywhere near the local radio station or MTV. As soon as I got home from that visit, I headed over to the local record store to snag my own copy of ESS, and then started working my way backwards. 1980's Argybargy was nearly as great, another slab of contemporary British pop music that shockingly had completely evaded my attention. Opening track "Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)" captured my imagination immediately: ridiculously catchy, diving straight into the verse as the needle drops as if the band is too eager to waste any time with extraneous introductions--even if the lyrics were kinda hard to parse (and still are).

These days, "Pulling Mussels" (like the band itself) is far less a novelty, and, if anything, this track feels as weighed down by decades of repeat listens as the classic rock songs that cluttered the radio back then. Still, even if it's not my go-to Squeeze song, when it comes up on the stereo I'm gonna ride the whole thing out every time.

Live 1982:

And in 2019:

Glenn Tilbrook with Daryl Hall: