Customer Reviews

Submarine Bells

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It is nearly two years since I bought this, and it is the only album I still must hear at least once a week. There is not once a faltering of quality, from the glorious sunburst that is the opening organ on "Heavenly Pop Hit" to the sublime fading chimes of the title track. It invigorates and captivates the soul, until one feels one is bleeding raw emotion and crying pure tears of 'joie de vivre'. The poetry and honesty of Martin Phillip's lyrics is unequalled. If everyone in the world listened to this, there'd be no more war or sadness, and we'd live for the dawning of the day.

the first of five chills albums i bought last summer, and easily the best. this is their masterpiece, and i've never in my life heard a better, more solid, more surprising synth-pop record. in fact, in light of this album, the rest of the chills' stuff is good, but not nearly good enough, if this is what they were capable of. every song crawls inside your head and camps out there, so by the time you're done listening, you've got 40 minutes of new-age kiwi pop bouncing around your skull. sadly, i don't listen to it much nowadays, but it speaks to the immediate and engaging accessibility of this record that it's the first one in maybe 6 years i've listened to frequently, repeatedly, to the point of complete saturation.

The first track of "Submarine Bells" is definitely well named, and not just for the first song either -- the whole album is made of "heavenly pop hits." This New Zealand band produced some pretty darn charming pop-rock that melds near-orchestral music with catchy pop melodies and melancholy writing.

A majestive sweep of organ-like keyboard opens "Heavenly Pop Hit" and the harder, contemplative "Tied Up In Chain." Dali-esque love songs ("Oncoming Day") blossom into the strange and surreal ("I Soar") the slowly catchy ("Dead Web" and "Don't Be -- Memory") the searing whirlwind rock ("Familiarity Breeds Contempt") and ends by coming full circle to where it started -- catchy, chiming pop (the charming "Effloresce And Deliquesce" and delicate sea ode "Submarine Bells").

The Chills don't possess the musical brilliance of true geniuses, but their catchy, enticing alternative-pop songs are unforgettable. They swirl, they snap, they shimmer, they sparkle with irresistable melodies. The first two songs suck you in with their hooks and chiming keyboard pop, before shifting into the darker, stranger realms of songs like the eerie "I Soar" and the louder, rockier "Oncoming Day." By that time, you're already caught up in the music and won't want to turn it off.

Martin Phillips, without being whiny, uses these simple-seeming songs to bemoan death, love, and any combination of the above. (The love of death? The death of love? Both work...) Despite the cheery tone of the music, the songs themselves are hauntingly written: "I have to talk to someone/describe it all to someone/emotions are imploding/but there's nothing to say... they've all gone away..."

New Zealand has proved in the past few years that it can serve up top-notch stuff that the public devours with a passion. But the Chills' "Submarine Bells" shows that this is hardly a new development. Beautiful, haunting and quite enjoyable.

This album is a masterpiece because it contains beautifully written, played, and produced pop music. The lyrics are heartfelt and yet knowing, and the music is a swirl of shining beauty. Comparing this band to Coldplay is frankly insulting; Coldplay only wishes they could write a song as absolutely wonderful as "Heavenly Pop Hit."

If the Chills were a "second tier act," that was no fault of theirs; when this record was originally released, their United States record company had no idea what to do with them and gave them no promotion. I was lucky enough to see them live on a brief tour of the U.S., and Martin Phillips and co. were every bit as good live as they were on this record. The Chills should have been one of New Zealand's most famous imports; album after album of great stuff, and this one is possibly their best.

The reviewer from Switzerland has snow in his ears. This is one of the great lost rock albums. Miss it, and it's your loss.

Since the first time I heard this album (and it has only gotten better), it has been in my top 10 of all time. It is so lush, so beautifully produced, probably the best instrumentation I've heard on a pop album. This band is astounding!

The first track of "Submarine Bells" is definitely well named, and not just for the first song either -- the whole album is made of "heavenly pop hits." This New Zealand band produced some pretty charming pop-rock that melds near-orchestral music with catchy pop melodies and melancholy writing.

A majestive sweep of organ-like keyboard opens "Heavenly Pop Hit" and the harder, contemplative "Tied Up In Chain." Dali-esque love songs ("Oncoming Day") blossom into the strange and surreal ("I Soar") the slowly catchy ("Dead Web" and "Don't Be -- Memory") the searing whirlwind rock ("Familiarity Breeds Contempt") and ends by coming full circle to where it started -- catchy, chiming pop (the charming "Effloresce And Deliquesce" and delicate sea ode "Submarine Bells").

The Chills don't possess the musical brilliance of true geniuses, but their catchy, enticing alternative-pop songs are unforgettable. They swirl, they snap, they shimmer, they sparkle with irresistable melodies. The first two songs suck you in with their hooks and chiming keyboard pop, before shifting into the darker, stranger realms of songs like the eerie "I Soar" and the louder, rockier "Oncoming Day." By that time, you're already caught up in the music and won't want to turn it off.

Martin Phillips, without being whiny, uses these simple-seeming songs to bemoan death, love, and any combination of the above. (The love of death? The death of love? Both work...) Despite the cheery tone of the music, the songs themselves are hauntingly written: "I have to talk to someone/describe it all to someone/emotions are imploding/but there's nothing to say... they've all gone away..."

New Zealand has proved in the past few years that it can serve up top-notch stuff that the public devours with a passion. But the Chills' "Submarine Bells" shows that this is hardly a new development. Beautiful, haunting and quite enjoyable.

Melodic, catchy, moody at times and ever changing!

I think it's one of the best pop albums of the last twenty five years!

Its hard to pigeon-hole this album, its sort of a concept album, with its environmentally driven themes and in-built coherence, its sort of poppy, but its too thoughtful and measured to be debased by a pop label, it lacks the strident guitars of the Dunedin sound, but has all of that sense of place that the Dunedin bands (and Kiwi artists in general) hardwire into their stuff. Its not a hot summer day of an album, but its an early spring day of an album, sitting on a windy, deserted beach at 9 am watching the too bright sun flicker off the wavetops and wondering what sort of day will follow. Lyrically, the album is beautiful, packed full of highlights that "Effloresce" with every subsequent listen. I haven't listened to this album properly in years, and my CD's are in storage, but reading these reviews, I think I will dig it out, just it off and re-ignite the memories.

Effloresce And Deliquesce--quite simply the most original, quirky song every recorded.

the chills open this strong effort like an english version of the beach boys with the heavenly "heavenly pop hit," a truly classic pop song. track 3, "the oncoming day," is a power pop classic, and the album ends with the beautifully lush and gently "submarine bells." mixed in is a lot of other very nicely done pop. a recording all lovers of power pop should have.