Stuffed with chuckle-worthy songs in a brain-melting mix of styles, Squeeze Machine's grab bag is practically bursting with original tunes, from the polka-fied blue-collar humor of "A Glass of Beer" (a raucous duet with Drew Carey), to a pair of straight-ahead squeezebox-fueled rockers ("This Song's Got Money Written All Over It" and "The Janitor Knows," an ode to every high school's unsung hero). The CD swings from swampy New Orleans shuffle to international cabaret, and swerves from hilarious hoedown music to funky fun. Squeeze Machine is the band's most ambitious recording yet and features new members Susie Davis (Billy Idol, Mick Jagger, Sheila E.), Carri Abrahms, and Michael Messer.

Anybody who's ever enjoyed a Those Darn Accordions show knows it's all about the songs. Much more than just a multiple-squeezebox spectacle, the band plays original music that oozes heaping helpings of humor while serving up a solid slice of storytelling, all peppered with wry insight into the human condition. For Squeeze Machine, the San Francisco-based band's fifth full-length CD, songwriter and lead singer Paul Rogers has put together 12 original tunes and wrangled up a wide array of side players to complement the band's time-honored musical palette of four accordion (Suzanne Garramone, Susie Davis, Carri Abrahms and Rogers), bass guitar (Lewis Wallace) and drums (Michael Messer). It's the band's most ambitious and eclectic recording yet, an all-night, all-you-can-eat musical buffet that's more Reno than Vegas but will leave you supremely satisfied just the same.

Squeeze Machine, which will hit store shelves in early September 2007, comes jam-packed with chuckle-worthy songs in an eclectic mix of musical styles. The sonic grab bag is bursting with straight-ahead, squeezebox-fueled rockers ("This Song's Got Money Written All Over It," about the never-ending quest to pen a hit single, and "The Janitor Knows," an ode to every high school's unsung hero). Polka fans get a straight shot of 2/4 fun with a stein of blue-collar humor on the side in "A Glass of Beer," a duet with all-American funnyman (and TDA pal and occasional drinking buddy) Drew Carey.

The record also delivers swampy New Orleans shuffle ("Blame It On Those Darn Accordions," which pays tribute to everybody's favorite free-reed instrument) and international cabaret ("Cocktails in Tehran," an exotic tale of jet-set dissolution). Fish around the Squeeze Machine steam table some more and you'll find a load of funky fun ("Wrinkle Suit," about a semi-desperate traveling salesman, and "Mr. Saggy Butt," a portrait of a freaky bargain-hunter who haunts the malls of America). Those Darn Accordions' squeezebox-playing songbirds Carri Abrahms and Susie Davis serve up a show-stopping version of "O Solo Mio/It's Now Or Never," while Davis presents the very pop "Vagabond Girl," her first writing contribution to the TDA oeuvre.

Squeeze Machine even veers into roots territory with Rogers' hilarious hoedown music ("Heads and Horns," about a hunting taxidermy competition, and "Tandem Bike," about a treacherous Wisconsin bicycle outing). And a loopy goof of a tune called "Stupid Things I Done" recounts a certain songwriter's sad-but-true history of bungled entrepreneurial pursuits. After even more rock 'n' roll surprises, Rogers closes the CD with a thoughtful piano ballad ("Larry's Wonderful Life," which delves into the dark side of ambition).

Belly on up to Squeeze Machine. You'll waddle away with a smile on your face.