The Chills started on the legendary Flying Nun indie label during the 1980s. Martin Phillipps was the only constant member. His sophisticated writing was different from most of his post-punk labelmates. He was the son of a Methodist minister, growing up in Dunedin, New Zealand.
The Chills wrote and played songs that needed a great deal of attention in the studio and the consequent expense meant that had no real choice than to have a crack at commercial mainstream success. They were an intelligent pop band.
Roger Shepherd (founder of Flying Nun), In Love With These Times
The Chills scored three top-ten hits in New Zealand. 1989’s jangly ‘Heavenly Pop Hit’ reached #2. But I’ve barely heard them on the radio, and they largely enjoyed a cult following rather than mainstream recognition.
The Chills had at least 20 members, including The Clean’s David Kilgour and The Verlaines’ Jane Dodd. Phillipps was the group’s only constant member. The group didn’t record an album between 1996’s Sunburnt and 2014’s Silver Bullets as Philipps struggled with addiction and depression. After a trio of impressive comeback albums, Phillipps died suddenly in 2024.
The Chills Album Reviews
Kaleidoscope World
1986, 9/10
The Chills formed in 1980 but didn’t make a studio album until 1987. Their early material dripped out as singles and EPs. Early releases included the iconic double EP The Dunedin Double, shared with The Verlaines, Sneaky Feelings, and The Stones. These early songs were compiled on the compilation Kaleidoscope World. It was originally an eight-song album. The 1989 CD release is more comprehensive, adding ten more songs.
This compilation is their best-loved record. There’s the odd foray into punk-flavoured material, like ‘Bite’, a b-side to the 1982 single ‘Rolling Moon’. But most tracks capture the tension between Phillipps’ increasing songwriting sophistication and the basic sound afforded by a DIY record label.
Some of The Chills’ most iconic tunes come from this early era. ‘Pink Frost’ is a dark tale of murder, with a haunting arrangement. ‘I Love My Leather Jacket’ recalls The Velvet Underground with its repetitive, muscular, lo-fi riff. ‘Doledrums’ squeezes a sophisticated arrangement out of a simple band setup, with a lovely introduction.
Kaleidoscope World contains some of The Chills’ best work, generously chronicling their early years.
Brave Words
1987, 7.5/10
After a series of strong singles, The Chills’ debut is a little disappointing. It’s produced by Red Krayola’s Mayo Thompson. Thompson slathers everything in reverb, making the record distant and homogenised. The songs are good, but there aren’t as many great Chills tracks as you’d expect given previous triumphs like ‘Pink Frost’ and ‘Rolling Moon’.
Phillipps expressed his disappointment with the sound. The record was remixed and reissued in 2023 under the title Spoken Bravely. This fits the SB pattern of every other Chills album title.
Once you get past the homogenised sound, there are strong songs here. ‘Wet Blanket’, with its chorus “I’ve got nothing to say to anyone” is jangly and tuneful. ’16 Heart-throbs’ sounds like a song from 1960s garageband compilation Nuggets with its insistent (Farfisa?) organ riff. The reverb-heavy sound works for ‘Rain’, where the arpeggiating guitars sound like precipitation. ‘Dan Destiny and the Silver Dawn’ is a typically enjoyable piece of jangle pop.
Brave Words is tough to access but has its share of worthwhile songs.
Submarine Bells
1990, 8.5/10
Submarine Bells seems to be the clear favourite among The Chills’ early albums. It’s not dogged by dated production, pretension, or a fractured band like the other work from their first phase. It features bassist Justin Harwood, who’d later play in Luna. Keyboardist Andrew Todd is central to the sound – the songs are mellow and keyboard-driven, reminiscent of The Beach Boys.
It was successful in New Zealand, topping the album charts. It opens with the New Zealand #2 single ‘Heavenly Pop Hit’, building from a chugging organ riff into a gorgeous ascending melody that showcases Phillipps’ boyish voice. The rest of the record isn’t as immediate but reveals its charms with subsequent plays.
The closing title track is hymn-like with its elegant melody and organ accompaniment. The new wave-tinged ‘Familiarity Breeds Contempt’ is a blast of energy in an often sedate record. There’s plenty of classy jangle-pop like ‘Part Past Part Fiction’ and ‘The Oncoming Day’.
Submarine Bells is the strongest studio record from The Chills’ first phase.
Soft Bomb
1992, 7.5/10
The Chills were falling apart after a successful 1990. Keyboardist Andrew Todd and bassist Justin Harwood left the band. The latter was replaced by Terry Moore, a member in the early 1990s. The Chills went into the studio as a three-piece, but drummer James Stephenson quit on the eve of recording, clashing with studio keyboard hire Peter Holsapple.
The Chills had a large budget for their third studio album. They recorded for six months in Burbank’s Master Control in Los Angeles, with label-appointed producer Gavin MacKillop. The record wasn’t successful, perhaps doomed by the change in musical tides with the emergence of Nirvana. It’s overlong and scattershot, but it has strong moments.
“I can see now where we were in the history of things,” he says. “With the success of R.E.M., the major studios were looking for other indie bands that might have crossover potential. And we were obviously seen as a kind of New Zealand possibility for that.”
Martin Phillipps, KCRW interview
Soft Bomb is the most ambitious Chills album, but it’s most enjoyable when it stays closest to their usual sound. ‘Male Monster from the Id’ is a strong opener, while ‘Double Summer’ is a gem buried in the record’s second half. ‘Ocean Ocean’ features the band’s usual jangle, and ‘Sanctuary’ is driven by a rollicking piano.
There was enough budget to bring in arranger Van Dyke Parks for the ambitious ‘Water Wolves’. ‘Song for Randy Newman Etc’ is another interesting departure, a singer-songwriter track where Phillipps compares himself to Wilson, Barrett, Walker, and Drake. But the short tracks like ‘There Is No Harm in Trying’ and ‘There Is No Point in Trying’ break up the record’s flow – it would have been better as a tight ten-song collection.
It has some great moments, but Soft Bomb feels noticeably flaccid in a tight discography.
Sunburnt
1996, 7/10
Soft Bomb wasn’t a commercial success, and the tour to support it was troubled with poor sales and line-up volatility. Phillipps broke up the band after their final US show – the UK leg of the tour was cancelled. After playing with David Kilgour in Pop Art Toasters, Phillipps moved to Auckland and formed a new Chills lineup. They were billed as Martin Phillipps & the Chills.
The new band flew to the UK to record an album. But only Phillipps was allowed into the country, as the other band members were refused entry due to visa issues. Phillipps recorded Sunburnt with ring-ins – Fairport Convention‘s Dave Mattacks on drums and XTC‘s Dave Gregory on bass.
The Chills’ discography is impressively consistent, but Sunburnt might be their weakest record. Phillipps’ songwriting is almost as strong as ever, but the record is sometimes lacklustre. On a somewhat gloomy record, the upbeat songs stand out – the bubblegum pop of ‘Dreams Are Free’ and the power pop of ‘Come Home’.
Elsewhere, it feels like Phillipps’ singer-songwriter album. There are more piano-based, moody songs than usual, like ‘Secret Garden’ and the title track.
Sunburnt features reliably classy songwriting, but it’s more subdued than usual.
Secret Box
2001, not rated
Only 500 copies were printed of this three-disc box set. It’s geared up for hardcore fans, with two discs of live tracks and a disc of studio b-sides and leftovers.
I haven’t spent long with it, but there’s some fun stuff on the studio disc like ‘Yabba Dabba Doo’, a Flintstones tribute that was on a Sunburnt b-side. The gorgeous cover of The Byrds’ ‘Draft Morning’ is another great moment.
I assume that some of the live tracks will be reworked on Springboard: Early Unrecorded Songs, due later in 2024.
It’s available for download at Willfully Obscure.
Silver Bullets
2015, 8.5/10
There were a couple of decades between Chills albums, before the emergence of Silver Bullets in 2015. Phillipps explained to Jihee Jun “We just couldn’t. There’s been a lot of frustration but finally, somebody got behind us with the money and belief in both me and the band. It all happened quite quickly too. Off it went!”
The Chills’ second run of albums is often more satisfying than their first, even if there aren’t as many classic songs. They enjoyed a stable lineup and the production is less tied to an era.
Phillips is more political than before on Silver Bullets. He questions trickle-down theory on ‘Pyramid – When the Poor Can Reach the Moon’ and takes on environmental issues on ‘Underwater Wasteland’. The organ-drenched ‘Aurora Corona’ is a psychedelic delight. ‘Molten Gold’ captures the group’s trademark 1980s jangle.
Silver Bullets is an exemplary comeback, heralding a terrific second wind from The Chills.
Snow Bound
2018, 8/10
These late-period Chills records are very impressive. Snow Bound largely drops Silver Bullets‘ political angle, instead returning to Phillipps’ fascination with nature. While Silver Bullets largely featured older songs, Snow Bound has freshly written material.
Phillipps’ told Brooklyn Vegan that he sees the album as “hopefully a kind of Carole King Tapestry for aging punks.” It’s his warmest, jangliest album, inviting and pretty.
Unlike most writers in their fifties, Phillipps melodic sense remained intact. His tunes are as strong as ever and his voice is youthful and tuneful. The highlights are the jangly pop tunes like ‘Lord of All I Survey’, ‘Bad Sugar’, and ‘The Greatest Guide’. The latter was written for artistic trailblazers like Bowie and Prince.
Snow Bound isn’t one-geared – ‘Deep Belief’ is a gorgeous ballad, with the passing chords lending some typical Phillipps sophistication. ‘Complex’ and ‘Scarred’ rock as hard as anything in The Chills’ catalogue, with punchy chords.
Snow Bound is part of a terrific comeback trilogy from Phillipps.
Scatterbrain
2021, 8.5/10
Scatterbrain was written before the COVID-19 pandemic. The recording process was paused when everyone returned home for lockdown. Nonetheless, ‘Safe and Sound’ sounds like a pandemic anthem – “we’ll stay at home/safe and sound”.
Now in his late 50s, his age has made Phillipps more eccentric (‘Monolith’) and sentimental (‘Caught in my Eye’). But he’s lost little of his melodic zing – songs like ‘Little Alien’ and ‘The Walls Beyond Abandon’ are earworms, power pop with memorable hooks. Phillipps often contemplates his own mortality, on songs like ‘Destiny’.
Scatterbrain is a tight 31-minute record with ten tuneful songs that never outstay their welcome. Phillipps is playful on ‘Little Alien’, with rhymes like “Cicadian”, “Arcadian”, and “Subterranean”, while the combination of keyboard hooks and power-pop drive on ‘The Walls Beyond Abandon’ is irresistible.
Phillipps enjoyed an excellent second stanza of his career, and his late-period work is worth exploring.
Pop Art Toasters
Pop Art Toasters
1994
In 1994, Phillipps and The Clean’s David Kilgour collaborated on this five-song EP of 1960s covers. Kilgour and Phillipps came out of the Flying Nun scene, influenced by punk. It’s interesting to hear them play tuneful, harmony-laden songs that demonstrate an encylopedic knowledge of 1960s pop.
The Dovers’ ‘What Am I Going To Do?‘ is on the celebrated Nuggets compilation, while The Who’s ‘Circles’ is well known. But I’d never heard the other three songs before – ‘I Won’t Hurt You’, in particular, is a departure with its slow pace and orchestration. They cover ‘Everyone’s Gonna Wonder’ by New Zealand’s Avengers.
Pop Art Toasters is an unexpected delight, a fun side-project of 1960s gems.
10 Best Chills Songs
Heavenly Pop Hit
Pink Frost
Wet Blanket
Pyramid – When the Poor Can Reach the Moon
The Walls Beyond Abandon
The Male Monster from the Id
Lord of All I Survey
Rain
Rolling Moon
Come Home
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