THE CHILLS

Soft Bomb
1992

Submarine Bells

1990

Discogs

 

biography

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Chills were one of New Zealand's best and most popular bands of the '80s, making a small but consistent series of chiming, hook-laden guitar pop. Both the songs and the arrangements were constructed with interweaving guitar hooks and vocal harmonies, creating a pretty, almost lush, sound that never fell into cloying sentimentality. Throughout their existence, the band's personnel changed frequently -- there were more than ten different lineups -- with the only constant member being guitarist Martin Phillipps, the band's founder. Phillipps began playing music with the New Zealand punk band the Same in 1978. Following in the footsteps of the Clean and the Enemy, the Same played mostly covers, creating a raw fusion of British Invasion and garage rock. However, the group never recorded. Phillipps applied the same approach for The Chills, the band he formed in 1980 with his sister Rachel and Jane Dodd (bass) after the Same fell apart.

In 1982, The Chills signed with Flying Nun, the influential New Zealand independent record label, and released several singles that were never widely distributed in America and Europe. During this time, the group went through an enormous amount of members: future Great Unwashed bassist Peter Gutteridge, the Clean's David Kilgour, keyboardist Frazer Batts, bassist Terry Moore, guitarist Martin Kean, keyboardist Peter Allison, drummer Martyn Bull, and drummer Alan Haig. While these incarnations of The Chills recorded plenty of singles, they never made an album. Released on the U.K. record label Creation, the group's first album, Kaleidoscope World (1986), was a collection of early singles; it was later released in the U.S. on Homestead.

With the lineup of Phillipps, bassist Justin Harwood, keyboardist Andrew Todd, and drummer Caroline Easther -- the group's tenth lineup -- The Chills recorded their first proper album, Brave Worlds, in 1987. Produced by Mayo Thompson, the leading figure of the cult band the Red Crayola and a former member of Pere Ubu, the bandmembers weren't satisfied with the final result, claiming it was too loose and under-produced. The Chills, particularly Phillipps, were more satisfied with their second full-length album, 1990's Submarine Bells, their first record released on an American major label. Submarine Bells was recorded with yet another version of the band, with Jimmy Stephenson replacing Easther, who was suffering from tinnitus. The album was well received by critics and college radio, yet it failed to break the band into the mainstream in either America or Britain. Two years later, they released Soft Bomb, which suffered the same fate as Submarine Bells. The following year, Martin Phillipps broke up The Chills again, yet the group reconvened a couple times to record Sunburnt (1996) and Stand By (2004).

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Soft Bomb 

Tracklist

1	The Male Monster From The Id	3:46
2	Background Affair	4:17
3	Ocean Ocean	3:56
4	Soft Bomb	3:12
5	There Is No Harm In Trying	0:40
6	Strange Case	3:56
7	Soft Bomb II	1:02
8	So Long	3:20
9	Song For Randy Newman Etc.	3:02
10	Sleeping Giants	3:25
11	Double Summer	3:13
12	Sanctuary	3:53
13	Halo Fading	3:34
14	There Is No Point In Trying	0:34
15	Entertainer	3:20
16	Water Wolves	4:40
17	Soft Bomb III	1:06

 

 

Submarine Bells

Tracklist 

1	Heavenly Pop Hit	3:27
2	Tied Up In Chain	3:15
3	The Oncoming Day	3:06
4	Part Past Part Fiction	2:55
5	Singing In My Sleep	2:39
6	I SOAR	3:04
7	Dead Web	2:15
8	Familiarity Breeds Contempt	3:20
9	Don't Be–Memory	4:45
10	Effloresce And Deliquesce	2:45
11	Sweet Times	0:40
12	Submarine Bells	3:41