the chills c/d?

Hmm, I find this way better than competent, maybe partly because Silver Bullets showed his full range of talents intact, so this plays as a very deliberate follow-up set of modest pop songs, ambitious in its economy.

xp The first song's lyrics are pretty interesting though. Phillipps still rides the line between storyteller and thinker, so it's hard to tell if he actually has sympathy for ignorant people or is just playing a guy who feels he ought to.

The American tour is on:

19 Feb: The Bellhouse, NY, US
20 Feb: The Middle East, Boston, US
22 Feb: White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, US
23 Feb: Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia, US
24 Feb: The Black Cat, Washington, US
26 Feb: Outer Limits Lounge, Detroit, US
27 Feb: The Empty Bottle, Chicago, US
28 Feb: The Turf Club, Minneapolis, US
2 Mar: The Wayfarer, Costa Mesa, US
3 Mar: The Echo, Los Angeles, US
5 Mar: The Catalyst, Santa Cruz US
6 Mar: The Chapel, San Francisco, US
8 Mar: Dante’s, Portland, US
9 Mar: Sunset Tavern, Seattle, US
11-17 Mar: SXSW, Austin TX, US

Great news! Was listening to Snow Bound the other day and thinking I'd never get a chance to see them again, given all Phillipps has been through.

First DC appearance since 1996 last night was a good mix of old and new songs. Phillipps voice was strong and band was helpful instrumentally and with backing vocals

Was that one of the shows with Springhouse? I would've loved to see that lineup but there are different openers by the time they get to my city.

would've liked to go to the Brooklyn show, but I do not pay $30 to see bands anymore. (the Mekons perhaps)

great to hear band is getting good reception -last time I saw them the songs still held up but the backing group assembled by Phillips detracted from the songs because they sounded so flavourless - like cardboard cutouts trying too hard to get everything right -maybe they have gotten better

I am seeing them tomorrow night, which might be the first time they've been in Chicago since 1996, similar to DC. I was at that show in 1996, possibly and probably at lounge ax, and I remember being really disappointed. but I'm looking forward to tomorrow because I hear the current band and Martin are doing great.

Was that one of the shows with Springhouse? I would've loved to see that lineup but there are different openers by the time they get to my city.

― geoffreyess, Tuesday, February 26, 2019 12:21 AM (nine hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Springhouse opened at the Jersey City show. Great show! The other opener... well he seemed nice and was dong his best.

Very much looking forward to Chicago show - last two records have been really good!

Springhouse did a temporary reunion and played the DC, Philly, and another show or 2. They have Jack Rabid, the longtime Big Takeover editor on drums. I liked them better than other opener Brion Starr’s Bowie/Reed/T Rex homage.

I first saw Chills in 90. Missed the 96 tour. This latest DC Show was just $20, and with no service charges if you bought the tickets at Black Cat. Onstage in DC, Philipps grumbled that Warner Brothers won’t reissue the Chills releases on that label.

Yeah Brion Starr is who I was referring to. Seems to worship those acts you've listed and was definitely putting in a great effort; I just feel like he didn't really have any tunes unfortunately.

This thread made me want to listen to Brave Words and it's not on Spotify??

You’re right, that Homestead label release is not on Spotify. A rip is on YouTube now

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0OHc_yqoYr4

Yep, I found it and listened to it....!

sounding great right now, really one of my favorite singers. just gorgeous.

Brion Starr, man. We saw that dude walking around beforehand and thought, huh, he's trying pretty hard. Then we saw him play and we were shocked to see him try even harder. I thought they sounded like Television if, yeah, Television had no tunes.

The Chills were great. Martin made a couple of references to that 1996 tour, which really bummed me out at the time, because it wasn't very good. He's grumbled that that he barely remembered it. Someone asked if it was behind "Sunburnt," and he quipped back "apparently."

He also made note of all the "SB" songs and albums in the Chills arsenal, and not only had I never noticed, he was impressed the crowd thought of more than he had! "Sunburnt." "Submarine Bells." "Soft Bomb." "Snow Bound." "Silver Bullets." "Sketch Book." "Somewhere Beautiful." "Secret Box." "Stand By." And so on.

First time in the states in yonks and I'm out of the country. Don't you hate when that happens?

I'm very happy for Martin's renewal, he'd been out of sorts for so long, to say the least.

The cringe look on his face was great when some punter yelled for 'Submarine Bells' two songs after he had just played it! I thought it was a great show, and I brought my Submarine Bells inner sleeve for Martin to sign, but didn't feel like fighting the crush of mega fans at the end.

One of these bands I never got into. :-( Which is a shame.

Not too late, (as discussed above) Snow Bound from last year is really great. Excited to see them tonight, hope we hear Bite (among many many other songs).

Snow Bound is just about as good as Soft Bomb and Submarine Bells, in its own contemporary way.

I must respectfully disagree. "Snow Bound" is good but the tunes don't linger in my head like stuff from "Soft Bomb" and "Submarine Bells".

I can hum "Time to Atone," "Easy Peazy, "Harmony." Whether you want to is another question.

Well, maybe that's fair, give or take an "America Says Hello." But I think if someone started with "Snow Bound" they wouldn't miss something fundamental about the slick side of the Chills that they would get starting with one of those other big-budget records. Similarly, if most of the songs on "Snow Bound" were dropped on "Soft Bomb" I think they would fit in pretty well, highlight or no.

I will say, apropos of nothing, that "Submarine Bells" is one of the prettiest songs ever written, and it was a surprise and a pleasure to hear it played live.

You know, I was reading an old interview, and while I understand the standard narrative that by the time "Soft Bomb" came out there was just no place for the Chills in the mainstream ..."Out of Time" was one of the biggest albums of the year! Still don't think there was a place for them in the mainstream, but there was clearly more at work. Label fuckupery. HIs accent.

Huh, I knew they were session guys, but I had no idea the rhythm section of "Sunburnt" was Dave Gregory and Dave Mattacks!

"Sunburnt" has some great tunes but overall it's spoiled by poor production.

Lovely set last night here in SF. New songs sounded great, old faves as wonderful as ever. My girlfriend thought "Submarine Bells" was the pinnacle of the show.

appreciate everyone recommending the tour. show last night in PDX was great and what a huge sound.
entire band sounded amazing, especially on the violin tracks.

St. Paul show was wonderful, one of my favorites by anyone ever honestly.

What's the latest on the documentary and Martin's health?

Saw the finished product today as part of Sydney Film Festival (it had been shown at SXSW apparently). These two reviews cover it better than I could, but suffice to say I'd be shocked if any Chills fan didn't enjoy it. There was a quick Q&A afterwards as well with Martin and the director Julia Parnell. The Hep C is cured, it's been over a year since he got the all clear and it hasn't come back.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jun/14/the-chills-review-martin-phillipps-triumph-and-tragedy-told-with-extraordinary-candour
https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/dead-man-singing-martin-phillipps-of-the-chills-20190613-p51x8t.html

Plus this interview with Martin and Julia, which may or may not work outside of Australia. https://radio.abc.net.au/programitem/pgOGnAOWE7

Thanks for all of those. I wonder how or if the movie will make its way here?

Well that's some welcome news! Long may Martin make music.

"Song for Randy Newman etc." is of course beautiful, but aside from the piano (I guess?) I've always thought it odd that Phillips would group Randy Newman with Syd Barrett, Brian Wilson, Nick Drake and, er, himself. Like, I guess as a recording artist Newman wasn't exactly topping the charts, but not even compared to those infamously tragic figures Newman was doing pretty well professionally (as he always had) by the time "Soft Bomb" was released. Maybe the '80s were relatively slow? I dunno, I guess I don't see why Phillipps invited him to his pity party.

None of them won an Emmy for Cop Rock, that's for sure.

I'd like to believe Martin Phillipps saw "Cop Rock," felt sorry for Randy Newman, then wrote this song.

The documentary is at last available for digital purchase here in the US

https://firefilms.lnk.to/ChillsFilm

Great!

Hey it's actually sort of hard to verify after poking around... does anyone know if he is still dealing with that grim prognosis on some level?

Last I saw, and it made no longer be current, was that hep c can now be treated. in fact I want to say it might have been pioneering Australian or New Zealand medicine that did it. But if Martin has so much as a sip of alcohol it could be deadly, iirc.

He seemed well and in good health at the show last year.

Oh, for sure, they and he were great live last year.

See I thought the hep c was gone as of 2015 or so, but then sometime later he got that bad prognosis during the filming of the documentary, but this is why I'm asking. I haven't actually seen the film yet.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/celebrities/92358051/the-chills-dying-front-man-martin-phillipps-is-given-miracle-reprieve-from-hepatitis-c--just-weeks-from-the-end-of-his-final-tour

As Martin Phillipps drove across the North Island as part of The Chills' reunion tour, he received a call to tell him that it would not be his last.

Phillipps, the driving force behind The Chills, had been suffering with Hepatitis C since the 1990s. The virus attacked his liver for almost two decades, and in 2016, the 53-year-old musician was told he had barely a year to live.

The disease, coupled with heavy drinking, had taken its toll on his liver and was now threatening to end his life. "It got to the point where I was warned that even mouthwash with alcohol in it could kill me," he said. But as The Chills made their way to Napier for the latest leg of their 11-stop national tour, Phillipps got the extraordinary call from his doctor to say a New Zealand-pioneered wonder drug named Harvoni, his last line of defence, appeared to be working.

That must have been a heckuva a feeling to be on the receiving end of that phone call.

The doc was really well made. Phillipps seems a tough man to get close to, but that is ironically maybe the movie's hinge.

Hey, new single

https://thechillsmusic.bandcamp.com/album/youre-immortal

gotten to the point that this is one of those threads that scares me every time it's bumped, even though lately it's been good news.

The world's insane BUT new album in April!

https://thechillsmusic.bandcamp.com/album/scatterbrain

A ray of sunshine in this dingy world. Good to see he's not deviating from his album title shtick.