Submarine Bells

Submarine Bells is an album by New Zealand group the Chills, released in 1990. This was the band's first album on a major label, as Martin Phillipps signed to Warner Bros. Records subsidiary Slash Records, to release the album in the U.S. The album reached #1 on the New Zealand album charts and had significant support from American college radio. The album was awarded gold status in New Zealand and represents the peak of the Chills' popularity at home. It is considered to be one of the defining albums of the Dunedin sound. The supporting tour for Submarine Bells culminated in a triumphant home-coming concert in Dunedin Town Hall.

Submarine Bells
Studio album by
The Chills
Released1990
RecordedJacobs Studios, Surrey, August–October 1989
Genre
Length35:52
Label
ProducerGary Smith
The Chills chronology
Brave Words
(1987)		 Submarine Bells
(1990)		 Soft Bomb
(1992)

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Chicago Tribune[2]
Christgau's Consumer GuideA[3]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[4]
The Philadelphia Inquirer[5]
Spin Alternative Record Guide8/10[6]
Uncut8/10[7]

Trouser Press singled out the "splendorous title track", the "should-have-been-a-smash 'Heavenly Pop Hit'", and many other individual tracks, but chiefly praised the album for its overall cohesion and consistency – signs of the Chills' evolution from "a first-rate singles band" to a fully formed artistic venture with a "mature, restrained and affectingly personal approach".[8] In his book Music: What Happened?, musician and critic Scott Miller calls it "a dynamite whole album", and "the international star and culmination of" the Dunedin sound.[9] He also ranks "Heavenly Pop Hit" among the year's best songs.[9]

Awards

The album won Best Album at the 1990 New Zealand Music Awards, and "Heavenly Pop Hit" won Single of the Year.[10]

Track listing

All songs written by Martin Phillipps.

  1. "Heavenly Pop Hit"
  2. "Tied Up in Chain"
  3. "The Oncoming Day"
  4. "Part Past Part Fiction"
  5. "Singing in My Sleep"
  6. "I Soar"
  7. "Dead Web"
  8. "Familiarity Breeds Contempt"
  9. "Don't Be – Memory"
  10. "Effloresce and Deliquesce"
  11. "Sweet Times"
  12. "Submarine Bells"

Chart performance

Submarine Bells was a huge success in the Chills' home country. It entered the New Zealand album chart at No. 7 in June 1990 and reached No. 1 the following week, ultimately spending 14 weeks on the chart in total.[11] The single "Heavenly Pop Hit" was released in July and peaked at No. 2.[12] Elsewhere, however, it made minimal commercial impact. The album did not chart in Australia, the UK, or the U.S., although "Heavenly Pop Hit" achieved some success on the U.S. Alternative Songs chart.[13] "Part Past Part Fiction" was released by Slash as a single in Australia, but did not enter the chart.[14]

Album

Year Country Chart Position Citation
1990 New Zealand NZ Album Chart 1 [11]
1990 Australia ARIA Charts 90 [15]

Single

Year Single Country Chart Position Citation
1990 "Heavenly Pop Hit" New Zealand NZ Singles Chart 2 [12]
1990 "Heavenly Pop Hit" U.S. Billboard Alternative Songs 17 [13]
1990 "Heavenly Pop Hit" UK UK Singles Chart 97 [16]
1990 "Part Past Part Fiction" Australia Australian Singles Chart – [14]

References
  1. Raggett, Ned. "Submarine Bells – The Chills". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  2. Kot, Greg (29 March 1990). "The Chills: Submarine Bells (Slash)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  3. Christgau, Robert (2000). "The Chills: Submarine Bells". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  4. Larkin, Colin (2009). "Chills". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-199-72636-1. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  5. Moon, Tom (1 April 1990). "The Chills: Submarine Bells (Slash/Warner Bros.)". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  6. Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  7. Mueller, Andrew (December 2015). "How to Buy... The Best of The Chills". Uncut (223): 64.
  8. Robbins, Ira A.; Sprague, David, eds. (1997). The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock (5th ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. The Chills. ISBN 9780684814377.
  9. Miller, Scott (2010). Music: What Happened?. Alameda, CA: 125 Books. p. 147. ISBN 9780615381961.
  10. "Awards 1990". Listing. NZ Music Awards. Archived from the original on 18 April 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  11. "Submarine Bells (album)". charts.nz. Hung Medien. 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  12. "Heavenly Pop Hit (song)". charts.nz. Hung Medien. 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  13. "Alternative Songs: The Chills". Billboard. 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  14. "Part Past Part Fiction (song)". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  15. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (pdf ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  16. "Singles Charts: The Chills". Official UK Charts. 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
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