Heavenly Pop Hit
| Submarine Bells | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by The Chills | ||||
| Released | 1990 | |||
| Recorded | Jacobs Studios, Surrey, August-October 1989 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 35:52 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | Gary Smith | |||
| The Chills chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Chicago Tribune |  |
| Christgau's Consumer Guide | A |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | |
| The Philadelphia Inquirer | |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 8/10 |
| Uncut | 8/10 |
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 Phillips 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.
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". 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. He also ranks "Heavenly Pop Hit" among the year's best songs.
The album won Best Album at the 1990 New Zealand Music Awards, and "Heavenly Pop Hit" won Single of the Year.
All songs written by Martin Phillips.
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.
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