Keep your "Tempted" and your "Black Coffee in Bed." To me, "Up the Junction" isn't only Squeeze's finest moment, it's one of the finest moments in modern pop music history: great melody, brilliant story, textbook example of the power of simple, direct songwriting.

Every time I've seen Squeeze, the song is the apex of the night for me.

But, of course, it's just one star in a very populated galaxy of great songs, may of them hits: "Cool for Cats," "Pulling Mussels From the Shell," "Another Nail In My Heart," "Is That Love" and the aforementioned "Tempted" and "Black Coffee in Bed," among them.

When Squeeze returns to Milwaukee this weekend to close out Summerfest with a 10 p.m. gig at the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard – pitch-perfectly preceded by a performance from Milwaukee's own Mike Benign Compulsion – the band will do a walk down memory lane, of course.

But, there are new songs, too, which will form part of a new studio record currently being committed to tape (or hard drive) and set for 2013 release.

Co-frontman Chris Difford took a few moments out of recording in mid-June to chat with us via email about the band's current "Dance Party Tour" and a stop in Brew City.

OnMilwaukee.com: Does the name "Dance Party Tour" suggest you'll be focusing on the uptempo favorites?

Chris Difford: I hope so, it would be a fun summer that way.

OMC: Is the upcoming record going to be a Squeeze record of new material or a Difford and Tilbrook record? Or have those lines blurred so much over the years that it doesn't much matter?

CD: We will be recording new songs, (but) it's all very secret. I'm waiting to hear them myself.

OMC: Do you find that audiences are receptive to the new songs, too, or are they generally just hoping for a walk down memory lane?

CD: Most people glaze over when we play new songs, but so do I when I go to shows. The glaze wears off and the hits keep coming.

OMC: Have you been, ahem, tempted to perform a whole record from beginning to end on a tour? "Eight minutes with Squeeze Tour: Packet of Three in its Entirety" or something like that?

CD: Not yet, but I'm sure it will happen.

OMC: You've been to Milwaukee on a number of occasions over the years. Any fond – or not so fond – memories?

CD: Seeing our drummer laying on the floor under a barrel of local beer. It was an exciting day. I ended up with a black eye. (We're guessing he's referring either to Squeeze's July 2, 1978 performance at "Beer Fest" or a June 28, 1980 Summerfest show, but the band also played at The Palms on a couple occasions around the same time.)