POO: The Chills

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"I Love My Leather Jacket" -- something about those keyboards.

Ned Raggett, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Jelly Head." Spent ten years stuck in my head; one of the few songs where their energy was what a lot of their other songs suggested it could be.

Douglas, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

quite a LONG WAY from being one of my favourite flying nun bands but still wonderful - "wet blanket" is just a song of absolute and utter radiant WONDER quite frankly. also think the pop art toasters ep with david kilgour and other FN luminaries is great fun...

commonswings, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

The Chills are of course one of the four great New Zealand bands, along with the Straitjacket Fits, the Able Tasmans and the Go-Betweens. These days I like "Rolling Moon" more than "Pink Frost", as I prefer boundless optimism to nightmares of death, even beautiful nightmares.

B-Rad, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

B-Rad, no room for the Bats on the great New Zealand bands list? 'Silverbeet' is a quality album... "Courage" is massive.

Tim DiGravina, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

One Chills song is not easy. As much as I adore the early stuff, I'd go dfor "Part Past Part Fiction" or perhaps "Double Summer".

electric sound of jim, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

There's room if you bump the Go Betweens for being from a different country.

Curt, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

the Go-Betweens are like pavlova and Crowded House; another great NZ invention.

hamish, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

The GoB's belong to the Kiwi tradition rather than the Aussie one, in that they like jangly pop songs and have never thrown up on record. The beautiful and talented Bob Scott has yet to write a song as exuberant as "Heavenly Pop Hit".

B-Rad, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Heavenly Pop Hit" sounds like a retread of the excellent "Block Of Wood". Bats songs are often full of exuberance.

electric sound of jim, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

less about crowded house, the go-betweens, more about PINK FROST! very good to listen to on yr walkman in the supermarket, cos supermarkets are kind of spooky, especially at peak time.

queenoftheharpies, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

i only like 1 chills song anyway so E-f'n-Z ... P.Frost again.

unknown or illegal user, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

i saw them the other night. so many ppl'd go "oh cool" i bet but they were not very interesting.

unknown or illegal user, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

Retread or not, I pick "Heavenly Pop Hit" too.

Sean Carruthers, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Pink Frost" is pretty near perfect; but having spent the day in bed I'll have to pick "Doledrums".

Ess Kay, Monday, 24 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

The best comment I ever read on Pink Frost was in the NME - the quietest rock song ever, sounding as though it were played with mufflers on the speakers so as not to wake their parents up.

(MS?)

Marcello Carlin, Monday, 24 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

'pink frost' is 'eh'. (how's that, josh?)

mitch lastnamewithheld, Monday, 24 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

"night of the chill blue" - brave words

goosebump good.

gygax! (i forgot my blog password), Monday, 24 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

Heavenly Pop Hit.

Sterling Clover, Monday, 24 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

eleven months pass...
'Dan Destiny and the Silver Dawn' - brisk, poignant space-age love song, with gorgeous backing vocals.

stevo (stevo), Friday, 6 June 2003 17:57 (twenty years ago) link

"HEavenly Pop Hit" for me as well.

Pashmina (Pashmina), Friday, 6 June 2003 18:12 (twenty years ago) link

Superchunk's cover of "Night of Chill Blue" -- C or D?

mookieproof (mookieproof), Friday, 6 June 2003 18:37 (twenty years ago) link

"Pink Frost" is undoubtedly my pick. But if there were room for another, I'd choose "Male Monster from the Id."

Paul Cox (paul cox), Friday, 6 June 2003 19:21 (twenty years ago) link

"Flamethrower", it actually kinda rocks. And is grim. "Heavenly Pop Hit" got me into music though, at 12 or whatever I was

Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Saturday, 7 June 2003 00:56 (twenty years ago) link

superchunk can make even the greatest songs seem mediocre, it's a rare gift. event he verlaines 'lying in state' which seems tailor made for them turns wretched in their hands.

keith (keithmcl), Saturday, 7 June 2003 03:44 (twenty years ago) link

Keith speaks wisdom...

Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 7 June 2003 13:44 (twenty years ago) link

this thread brings back fond memories of seeing the chills with rainy and ned last year.

di smith (lucylurex), Saturday, 7 June 2003 13:46 (twenty years ago) link

:-) They did a cover of "Solitary Man" that had Di in major happiness. :-)

Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 7 June 2003 13:49 (twenty years ago) link

"look for the good in others and they'll see the good in you." the "fa fa fa fa" part alone qualifies it as one of the greatest pop songs ever, and the rest of the song is kinda great, too.

fact checking cuz, Saturday, 7 June 2003 19:08 (twenty years ago) link

Are the Chills the only pop band with more than one single about death? Maybe the Shangri-Las?

Just to keep things fresh, I'll say "House with 100 Rooms."

fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Sunday, 8 June 2003 02:22 (twenty years ago) link

Yet another vote for "Heavenly Pop Hit"

Joe (Joe), Sunday, 8 June 2003 12:55 (twenty years ago) link

in other news, I found a sealed copy of "Kaleidescope World" at some record shop by my folks' house in Flint, MI.

And 'twas only $7!

Kingfish (Kingfish), Monday, 9 June 2003 03:57 (twenty years ago) link

Another vote for "I Love My Leather Jacket".

(Coincidentally the other vote was from Ned, and the first time I ever heard Leather Jacket, a friend taped it to fill up the space at the end of a My Bloody Valentine C90. Ecstacy and Wine and The Chills, it was a lovely mixtap!)

kate (kate), Monday, 9 June 2003 08:13 (twenty years ago) link

Anything except Satin Doll.

Zora (Zora), Monday, 9 June 2003 21:29 (twenty years ago) link

"Pink Frost" - personal no.1 chill, always'll be f'me

t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Monday, 9 June 2003 21:35 (twenty years ago) link

Rolling moon and Pink frost to second but i have only heard a few tracks

Jens (brighter), Tuesday, 10 June 2003 09:56 (twenty years ago) link

always had a soft spot for 'the great escape'
how come i love the chills but cant stand the go-betweens?
i bet 99 out of 100 people wouldnt be able to tell the difference
if they'd never heard either before....

joni, Tuesday, 10 June 2003 14:30 (twenty years ago) link

Pink Frost is just a perfect song.

I enjoy all of Heavenly Pop Hits even thought some of it sounds hopelessly dated in that Smiths way.

scott m (mcd), Tuesday, 10 June 2003 14:37 (twenty years ago) link

hopelessly dated in that Smiths way

Ick. Did you actually say that?

Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 10 June 2003 14:49 (twenty years ago) link

look for the good in others, and you'll see the good in you.

j fail (cenotaph), Tuesday, 10 June 2003 14:49 (twenty years ago) link

Did you actually say that?

Yes.

scott m (mcd), Tuesday, 10 June 2003 15:01 (twenty years ago) link

how come i love the chills but cant stand the go-betweens?
i bet 99 out of 100 people wouldnt be able to tell the difference

i can't pretend to understand someone not liking the go-betweens, but they're two very different sounding bands. GoB's recordings are all quite dry, acoustic sounding things (excepting the terrible mid 80s drum sounds on Springhill Fair) while the Chills stuff is a lot more floaty..

electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 10 June 2003 22:10 (twenty years ago) link

i love the chills and find the go betweens tedious, i think with me it is more the perception of each. the chills are a nice little pop band while the go betweens are meant to mean more, so maybe i am underwhelmed because i am tainted by the hype. no hype for the chills is there?

keith (keithmcl), Tuesday, 10 June 2003 23:08 (twenty years ago) link

not quite to the same extent, certainly. i never bought the whole go-betweens as clever and literary and intelligent and whatever, i just thought the songs were gorgeous.

electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 10 June 2003 23:33 (twenty years ago) link

three years pass...
"Rain"

my name is john. i reside in chicago. (frankE), Thursday, 13 July 2006 00:35 (seventeen years ago) link

"Look For The Good In Others...."

everything (everything), Thursday, 13 July 2006 01:06 (seventeen years ago) link

'rain' is fantastic. i always liked 'creep' too.

keyth (keyth), Thursday, 13 July 2006 04:03 (seventeen years ago) link

brave words is a singular and wonderful album.

fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Thursday, 13 July 2006 04:08 (seventeen years ago) link

martin phillipps always complains about the mix, no idea why. all of his later attempts at 'wet blanket' have been dismal. too bad homestead tried to ruin the album by inserting 'party in my heart' and 'living in a jungle' in the middle of the otherwise perfect record. they could have lived nicely as un-needed b-sides from the house with 100 rooms single.

keyth (keyth), Thursday, 13 July 2006 04:33 (seventeen years ago) link

one year passes...

today, "wet blanket"

john. a resident of chicago., Saturday, 3 May 2008 02:58 (fifteen years ago) link

today, in my neck of the woods, "Rain"...

henry s, Saturday, 3 May 2008 22:40 (fifteen years ago) link

"The Great Escape." At the end, it stops cold, and then after five seconds of silence you hear applause. All of a sudden, you realize that it was recorded live and that the audience was literally stunned. I cannot think of another musical moment quite like it.

"Submarine Bells" is a literally chilling end to one of my all-time favorite albums.

mike a, Sunday, 4 May 2008 02:37 (fifteen years ago) link

"Watching the Waves"

Jazzbo, Sunday, 4 May 2008 02:43 (fifteen years ago) link

one year passes...

Yesterday: Rain
Today: Double Summer

Soft Bomb is better than I remembered. I had also somehow grown up in NZ without noticing how the Chills followed the great artistic tradition in NZ of combining an obsession with landscape and oceans, and death.

paulhw, Sunday, 15 November 2009 00:03 (fourteen years ago) link

three years pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAAidYu9AFg

The Chills perform "Night Of Chill Blue"
Live in Auckland NZ at the Windsor Castle, 29 June 1985

Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Sunday, 19 May 2013 03:31 (ten years ago) link

Heavenly Pop Hit is my fav but i am not an expert on the band and might very well have a different answer if I spent more time with their catalog. I also love the jellyfish album cover of Submarine Bells.

Michigan seems like a dream to me now (Treeship), Sunday, 19 May 2013 03:34 (ten years ago) link

one year passes...

either "pink frost", "the great escape" or another chills song i have forgotten the name of which used to be on one of my compilation tapes roundabout 1987 immediately after "the great escape". i have tried to whistle the beginning, sorry the volume is very low, it is here. anyone a clue what the name of that upbeat, exuberant song is? i have listened to all the cds, i couldn't find it. and somehow it is the chills in one song really. a classic song if there ever was one.

it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Saturday, 2 August 2014 17:56 (nine years ago) link

"rolling moon", their very first single

( X '____' )/ (zappi), Saturday, 2 August 2014 18:23 (nine years ago) link

you are right, zappi. thank you. what a wonderful song!

it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Saturday, 2 August 2014 18:50 (nine years ago) link

after moving into a new flat recently i decided to order my vinyl alphabetically for once, and found i have 3 "kaleidoscope world" LPs! no idea how that happened, but if there is one album i don't mind having backup copies of ...

( X '____' )/ (zappi), Saturday, 2 August 2014 18:57 (nine years ago) link

Very positive notices from UK tour and without wanting to jinx anything - it does sound like a reality that there will be a proper new album sometime very soon. He has so many songs to choose from so will be interesting to see how it sounds.

Hinklepicker, Saturday, 2 August 2014 22:01 (nine years ago) link

Submarine Bells and Soft Bomb were, for a time, two of the best albums you could find as cutouts pretty much anywhere.

Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 3 August 2014 01:49 (nine years ago) link

Personally I think that Soft Bomb was patchy - everything up til then very excellent.

Hinklepicker, Sunday, 3 August 2014 05:03 (nine years ago) link

Flamethrower - I think David Kilgour dancing down the front. Great ending.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCDMF4Avl3A

Night Of The Chill Blue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFPcoElI0M4

Doledrums - Drinking Lots and taking showers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVTzW2zvKUo&index=12&list=UUxgsA1KIuvmujFvQMKnTlow

Hinklepicker, Sunday, 3 August 2014 05:21 (nine years ago) link

SOrry but one more. why was not this song bigger than jesus? too great maybe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzMK-hw14Bc&list=UUxgsA1KIuvmujFvQMKnTlow&index=10

Hinklepicker, Sunday, 3 August 2014 05:23 (nine years ago) link

New album is in the bag and should be out on Fire records later this year. Saw them in Ediburgh the other night and they were in fine form. Got loads of classics and the new stuff sounded good. Martin Phillips was in good health too.

Poor.Old.Tired.Horse. (Stew), Sunday, 3 August 2014 17:39 (nine years ago) link

one year passes...

liking this a lot

1999 ball boy (Karl Malone), Friday, 23 October 2015 18:37 (eight years ago) link

Imho, some great tracks and some just ok ones. But glad he and they are active.

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 27 October 2015 14:35 (eight years ago) link

yeah, this is really nice. beautiful shimmery production.

erry red flag (f. hazel), Tuesday, 27 October 2015 17:26 (eight years ago) link

This is good! ("Molten Gold"!)

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 31 October 2015 12:36 (eight years ago) link

This album is probably as good as "Brave Words," if not "Kaleidoscope World."

Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 31 October 2015 21:57 (eight years ago) link

Possibly as good as one of the greatest singles/EPs comps of all time? Ok! Haven't heard it yet but was glad to see "Molten Gold" got included.

Ys Man a.k.a. Have One on G (geoffreyess), Sunday, 1 November 2015 06:36 (eight years ago) link

This is really very good indeed, occasional cringe worthy lyrical moment aside.

Matt DC, Sunday, 1 November 2015 14:04 (eight years ago) link

Oh shit, not Kaleidoscope World, I meant Submarine Bells! About as good as Brave Words, not as good as Submarine Bells. And certainly not as good as Kaleidoscope World. So, like: Brave Words<this one<Soft Bomb<Submarine Bells<K. World. (Not counting Sunburnt, which is his wandering the wilderness album)

Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 1 November 2015 15:14 (eight years ago) link

is there a US deal for it?

skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 1 November 2015 15:29 (eight years ago) link

Not yet, but most of the us retailers I just checked have it listed as a reasonably priced import. (On backorder, unfortunately.)

Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Sunday, 1 November 2015 15:35 (eight years ago) link


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