Submarine Bells was The Chills big one. The almost breakthrough album, sure they were on the Dunedin EP, Pink Frost is a classic and I Love My Leather Jacket had a great backstory but this was the album that had all NZ music fans think they were going take that step to REM style fame. It started with the prophetically titled Heavenly Pop Hit which became one in NZ and Australia. They were signed to the then successful semi independent label Slash and seemed to for once have strong record company backing. However it did not happen.
Some blamed a difficult Martin Phillips and his tendency to spill band members. However after listening to the album again recently I think it just wasn't (quite) as good as we all wanted it to be, or maybe it was just ahead of its time. That feeling was reinforced recently when I was listening to Wilco's The Whole Love album and I had to ask myself if it was Wilco or The Chills. There are some great songs on the album and I would also encourage you to listen to Submarine Bells, Dead Web, and Effloresce and Diliquesce
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