''Submarine Bells'' is an album by

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

group

the Chills The Chills are a New Zealand rock band that formed in Dunedin in 1980. The band is essentially the continuing project of singer/songwriter Martin Phillipps, who is the group's sole constant member. For a time in the 1990s, the act was billed a ...

, released in 1990. This was the band's first album on a major label, as Martin Phillipps signed to

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

subsidiary

Slash Records Slash Records was an American record label originally specializing in local punk rock bands, active from 1978 to 2000. It was notable as one of the first and most successful independent record labels in alternative music, before its eventual ac ...

, 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 Dunedin sound was a style of indie pop music created in the southern New Zealand university city of Dunedin in the early 1980s. Characteristics According to Matthew Bannister, Dunedin sound "was typically marked by the use of droning or ...

. The supporting tour for ''Submarine Bells'' culminated in a triumphant home-coming concert in Dunedin Town Hall.

Critical reception

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' 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". 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

. He also ranks "Heavenly Pop Hit" among the year's best songs.

Awards

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

Track listing

All songs written by Martin Phillipps. #"Heavenly Pop Hit" #"Tied Up in Chain" #"The Oncoming Day" #"Part Past Part Fiction" #"Singing in My Sleep" #"I Soar" #"Dead Web" #"Familiarity Breeds Contempt" #"Don't Be – Memory" #"Effloresce and Deliquesce" #"Sweet Times" #"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. The single "Heavenly Pop Hit" was released in July and peaked at No. 2. 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. "Part Past Part Fiction" was released by Slash as a single in Australia, but did not enter the chart.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Single

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1990 albums Flying Nun Records albums Slash Records albums The Chills albums Dunedin Sound albums