the chills c/d?

Soft Bomb was actually a pretty big disappointment. Sunburnt is a "Martin Phillips" album; Justin Harwood had already left to join Luna by then. (but it wasn't that good either).

I liked the BOX (glad the HPH B-side turned up on there because the 7" was sold out the first day of release! Well, truth is I saw that beautiful blue slab but I ain't had no $ that day and it was gone the next day) but Sub Bells was IT, all the beauty, the "understated majesty" and no raggedy ass production neitha.

A perfect album. It is quite possibly in my actual top 10 for life. (Those damn Trane albums are hard to get out of there though!)

Hang on.... 33 1/3 on the line?? (OK, I'll do it...)

Submarine Bells is gorgeous (also because of its 'warm' production), at the time it totally blew me away. Apart from thrilling perfect pop/rock songs like Heavenly Pop Hit, The Oncoming Day and Familarity Breeds Contempt it's filled with yearning, melancholy and lost love: I SOAR, Don't Be - Memory, Part Past Part Fiction, Effloresce and Deliquesce, the title track...

Funny, I started the weekend earlier today with The Lost EP. A strong little record with some great tracks

whoever just paid $311 for the secret box on ebay would probably say "classic."

In 1992, I found some discount store in NYC that had a few boxes of "Submarine Bells" cassettes for like 20 cents apiece. Bought 'em all and gave 'em to friends for years.

"Martin Phillips, the man behind NZ indie pop legends the Chills, has been caught shoplifting in Dunedin. "Recently in a stupid and low frame of mind, I pocketed some banana milk and cheese at my local supermarket and, of course, I got caught!" he wrote in a recent message to fans on his website. "No excuses! It was just stupid. I'm fully aware that I'm not the only person who struggles a bit to make ends meet and most people don't resort to petty theft - especially when they're 41! Aaaagh!" Phillips' shoplifting was big news in New Zealand, making the front page of the local paper as well as radio and TV. On the upside, Phillips says a new Chills album, Silver Bullets, is due in 2005, along with a tour of the US, Europe and Australia midyear."

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ep9RdU60GlM

I Love My Leather Jacket

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VKWkK1tJxdw

Satin Doll

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ht4adK_DJvI

Liberty Or Love

http://youtube.com/watch?v=f9YcUgvAqxY

Wet Blanket

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BOvRTcTLvAM

Heavenly Pop Hit

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ite_aYNLZus

Brave Words

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rR14a4ub9TI

Part Past Part Fiction

http://youtube.com/watch?v=70Tf8GkUt_c

Also, they were very, very classic. May still be, though I have my doubts.

It's "MALE MONSTER FROM THE ID" OH MY GOD...

MY VINYL CAN'T BE FAR OFF NOW...AT LEAST I'VE GOT MY VINYL...

Blue Orchids had the reverse hit rate.

No, I understand what is meant by a Chills success rate and I'm glad someone brought that up, actually. But still...man they were head and shoulders above the Blue Orchids.

Kinda surprised by the love for Brave Words here, to me it's a big drop off from Kaleidoscope World.

brave words is so classic. 'night of chill blue' may be their best song ever. then there is 'rain', 'look for the good in others', 'creep', 'brave words', 'wet blanket'(the only good version of this song), 'dark carnival', 'house with one hundered rooms', 'push', etc, it is all just about perfect.

Yeah, Brave Words is pretty U&K, even though I prefer Submarine Bells.

Title track from Submarine Bells still brings me to tears.

Just saw Martin open for the New Pornographers here in Wellington a few weeks back. Acoustic, but still has that great voice. He suggested he'd be back with a proper band.

Kaleidsocope World wasn't produced very well, as I recall. I still have the vinyl. I dunno, The Chills for me are a truly great band that somehow ended up lost to the mists of my teenage years. I still never really feel comfortable returning to them. But I've got over the same kinds of feelings about Chameleons, so maybe Chills is next in line, who knows?

You mean "Brave Words" wasn't produced very well, don't you? 'Cuz it wasn't.

The production on Brave Words (courtesy Mayo Thompson, I believe) is pretty thin-sounding, but in many ways I prefer it to the more lush sound of the later albums. The songs, in and of themselves, shine through.

I've still got the Kaleidoscope World album on vinyl! God loves me!

Pink Frost could melt a good section of under 25 year olds in this day and age, I'd reckon.

Dan Savage will back me up, I think.

I mean Dan Selzer...shit. I used to get those names confused. I'm sorry.

That's ok. I like Dan Savage.

The Chills were great. Brave Words is underrated.

Gosh thanks for forgiving me for that Dan. That was a problem for me for several years.

God, Submarine Bells is just perfect.

otm.

I paid too much for the lp a whiles ago, don't think I've listened to it yet, will now.

i think there was a 7 inch w/it too?

kaleidoscope world came with a bonus 45, is that the one you're thinking of?

was jamming out to a bit of heavenly pop hits myself this w/e

pretty sure it's submarine bells, i think the guy i bought it off might've just chucked it in with it. will look tonight.

just put on brave words. classic!

huh. I was considering seeing them Friday, but had decided to sit this one out.

I see they're playing at Sleeping Village which actually feels like a venue for rock music whereas City Winery in NY is almost too posh and gentile, especially the new location which makes it feel more like a sprawling restaurant on the Hudson that happens to have a stage in the main dining room.

Menus alone couldn't be more different. A ton of beer (Pabst Blue Ribbon on top) vs. lots of fine wines and $30 salads and entrees.

Yeah, Sleeping Village. It's kind of a pain for me to get to.

DC show is at a City Winery that wants to be posh, but is simply overpriced for everything

Do people avoid City Winery because of the expensive menu? I know you don't have to buy anything, but I wonder if people do feel pressured into ordering something off the menu. As mentioned, it's not cheap beers or anything, you can easily spend more on food and wine than the show itself.

I like the City Winery, it's civilized! I don't order alcohol and get one dish and the cost is acceptable.

they played Austin last night it was pretty great... wish more people had turned up because they sounded really good. hope they get to tour again over the next few years so I have to chance to experience some different set lists. a lot of the newer songs sounded better than the classics!

It's been low turnouts (and as a result some bargain ticket promotions - $15 in L.A. IIRC) which is disappointing but I think the tour wasn't publicized well. I didn't even know they were playing at Baby's All Right in Brooklyn until I saw a post from someone else who's been following them closely. Unless you're actively following the Chills on social media, it's probably easy to miss word of these shows.

I noted somewhere else I think but that's been another effect of the death of alt weeklies and music journalism in general. no press, no previews, no listings or ads ...

If I didn't have another commitment on the 17th, I'd probably see them again, even if the setlist is likely to be the same. Who knows when they'll fly to the US again.

There are potentially lots of reasons why they may never tour the US again, unfortunately.

Saw them in Tucson on Friday. Not a great crowd, but bigger than I feared it would be. Band seemed in good spirits. Phillipps sounds great, especially for a 60 year old who has been through some significant health issues.

Just saw them in Boston, a fun gig, he's got a great young band that can add violin and trumpet as needed. He was in good spirits, very talkative from the stage but chose not to mingle after the show due to covid concerns. He said next year brings "Braver Words" and an album of old unreleased 80s material recorded by the current lineup.

They're playing tonight in Brooklyn at Baby's All Right. (Seems to have plenty of tickets left too.)

City Winery in Boston was only about half full, unfortunately.

It really is a shame, especially with ticket prices so low. (Tonight's show is only $20.)

On FB I saw someone saying that it was a mistake to have the Chills playing so many City Wineries as that club is less known for having pop rock bands like the Chills. Potential audience doesn't follow their schedule. City Winery wasn't able to reach out to the potential audience and as noted above less alt-weeklies. Younger arts editor of local online alt-weekly near me didn't highlight the show

Bingo. I only knew they were touring from this thread but couldn't make the show. They played a City Winery in DC with poor metro access on like a Monday, I can't imagine the turnout was good.

I'm sure they just went with places like City Winery for the money.

As I hypothesized on a couple of other threads, the death of free weeklies/music journalism/publicity etc. has I suspect taken a huge toll on touring bands. Especially with so many bands touring at once, it's just really hard for the average music goer to know what's going on, or what's worth seeing.

My wife has a co-worker who has taken up regularly going to concerts again, with the catch being she only buys tickets the day-of. She'll decide to see a show, look online and see what she can find, which sounds fun. Of course, if you're a relatively obscure band like the Chills, the odds of getting random concert goers are slim without someone bringing it to your attention.

Apparently Martin and several people in their crew came down with COVID after the opening NY shows, hence the cancellations in Toronto and Detroit due to illness. There was even a chance they'd cancel the entire tour for the same reason, but fortunately they recovered enough to do the remaining shows. Martin apologized for cancelling the Toronto and Detroit dates but said they'll be back - not sure if that means another tour is definite, but they will have a new release to promote fairly soon.

That’s rough, flying from so far and then getting sick.

"Party in My Heart" from the Brave Worlds remix/remaster released today. Comparatively sounds like someone just took a huge pile of dirty clothes away the front of my speakers. Really looking forward to hearing the new version of "Speak for Yourself".

(it's on Spotify)

Brave Words is sounding like a really good record today, via streaming. I doubt I would even have contemplated whether the sound quality was better if not primed by the years of chatter about the mix, but I'm prepared to believe that may be a subtle but significant factor?!? (I only previously had mp3 rips and it was less well imprinted on my brain than most of the early stuff as result, so I am not the best test subject.)

Just streamed the two tracks and it's definitely got more clarity and oomph compared to my CD. I'm probably alone in this but I'm slightly disappointed that it's seemingly not going to get a CD release.

You're not alone, mate.

all the recent new albums have turned up on CD... maybe they'll do it eventually?

I know it's not fashionable but woo hoo 'Brave Words: Spoken Bravely' is getting the 2 CD treatment!

Right there with you, happy to send Martin some dosh.

that's the stuff... will preorder CD and vinyl so they get some cash

Fashionable in my household.

Nice! I was wondering if that would happen. Besides the new mixes, a few "new" songs he was unveiling on the road were really good (basically finishing old songs that he kind of set aside and later included as-is on Secret Box). I imagine they may be included on this new deluxe set. Will definitely spring for it.

For some reason I never bothered with the Chills after "Submarine Bells" so today was the first time I ever heard "Soft Bomb" and my first impression is that it's really not very good at all. It's misleading because it's starts off with "Male Monster From the Id", which is great and sounds like the Chills, thereafter the album sounds like Martin Phillipps and some other people (which is apparently what it was) and there's a dearth of memorable songs. Winds down all the way to "Water Wolves", which is horrible.

Robert Christgau gave a good recommendation for an alternate tracklist. Here's a playlist on Spotify that sets it up.

I heard this for the first time this year, my only picks would be "Ocean Ocean" and "So Long".

Winds down all the way to "Water Wolves", which is horrible.

You wonder why, before enlisting Van Dyke Parks and a big string section, no-one told Phillipps "look, for this song, don't bother". Unless he was thinking that he was Brian Wilson, Scott Walker, Nick Drake and Randy Newman all in one, and wasn't taking advice from anyone.

wasn't taking advice from anyone

Based on the (excellent) documentary, this seems to have been the case. Ego, drugs, a misbegotten belief that the Chills had real commercial potential ...

“double summer” from soft bombis pretty

Yeah Double Summer is one of their best songs you goons.

17 songs is WAY too many songs to have on an album though, unless you're GBV or Wire.

The Chills were in that awkward position of being a great band with a small but dedicated fanbase, but it was probably too indirect to ever cross over to the mainstream so they kind of got caught in the middle. Not unlike like the Replacements, Hüsker Dü and all your other faves in fact.

Missed this - an interview with the producer behind the new Brave Words remix:

http://www.apessimistisneverdisappointed.com/2023/09/it-was-manic-street-preachers-that.html

Weird (or polite?) that that article never mentions Mayo Thompson?