Tag: The Chills

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Chills Release a Feverish 70s-Inspired Visual for Breakneck “Monolith”

Led by acclaimed singer/songwriter Martin Phillips, the acclaimed Dunedin, New Zealand-based indie act The Chills — currently, Phillips (guitar, vocals) Callum Hampton (bass, backing vocals), Todd Knudson (drums, backing vocals), Erica Sally (guitar, keys, violin, backing vocals) and Oli Wilson (keys, backing vocals) formed back in 1980 and since their formation, they’ve had a long-held reputation for being at the forefront of the Dunedin/jangle pop sound, beloved by many across the world.

The Chills’ forthcoming seventh album Scatterbrain is slated for a May 14, 2021 release through Fire Records. The album is a reportedly a self-examination of Phillips and his own songwriting that comes (somewhat hot) on the heels of their critically applauded and commercially successful sixth album, 2018’s Snow Bound and the critically applauded documentary 2019’s The Chills: The Triumph and Tragedy of Martin Phillips, which received its international premiere at SXSW — and was supported with the band’s first US tour since 1996. Thematically and lyrically, the album’s material finds Phillips, a man who has experienced his fair share of good times, bad times and struggles taking stock of everything.

Written through the perspective of a man, understanding and accepting his age and his own mortality, the album is a mature and sober look at the world centered around catchy melodies, an incisive turn of phrase, razor sharp hooks — and as always those glorious, jangling guitars. “There are hard but important truths in our history,” The Chills’ Martin Phillips says in press notes. “I know that it’s often said that you learn from those lessons or you’ll end up repeating the mistakes. So one should respect and consider the ancient ways. You belittle them at your peril.”

Scatterbrain’s first single “Monolith” sees the legendary Kiwi act retaining the familiar and beloved elements of their sound — the jangling guitars, infectious hooks, shimmering synth arpeggios and Phillips’ imitable vocals; but while possessing a brooding and muscular heft that reminds me a bit of The Church. And although the song clocks in at a breakneck 2:55, the song finds Phillips meditating on time, knowledge and mortality at a cosmic scale, suggesting that the ancients had an understanding of the world and reality that we could (and should) learn from — right now.

The recently released video for “Monolith” was created by Jonny Sanders and features some genuine articles and illustrations from old UFO magazines published the 1970s. “While browsing for Monolith images I came across old UFO magazines from the 1970s. This was a big craze back then and I instantly thought it had a great aesthetic and lent a humorous element to a fairly literal song about ancient stones,” Sanders explains. “The final video contains a mix of genuine articles and ones I’ve made up!”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Fawns of Love Return with a Trippy and Bittersweet Rumination of Permanence

Last October, I wrote about the Bakersfield, CA-based indie act Fawns of Love, and as you may recall, the act, which is comprised of married duo and full-time educations Joseph and Jenny Andreotti have performed together for the past 16 years (and married 13 of those 16), writing, recording and touring under various names with releases through several different labels. Back in 2013, Jenny Andreotti enrolled in a graduate school history program, and as a result the duo went on a lengthy hiatus from music; but by 2017, The Andreottis decided it was time to get back into music, starting anew with a brand new band name. 

The duo’s latest album Permanent was released earlier this week through Test Pattern Records, and the album is the follow-up to their EP documenting their Part Time Punks live session, which featured a cover of The Chills‘ “Rocket Science.” However, the material on Permanent is inspired by deeply personal experience. “For the past year, my life has been in a complete flux,” the duo’s Jenny Andreotti explains in press notes. “People have moved away, relationships have changed, and this has challenged my belief that people’s love for you is permanent.”

Album single “Someday” was a chilly and woozy 4AD Records-like track centered around shimmering synths and guitars, four-on-the-floor beats and a motorik groove paired with Jenny Andreotti’s ethereal falsetto. “Mournful Eyes,” continues in a similar vein as its predecessor as the song features arpeggiated synths, thumping beats, shimmering New Order-like guitar chords, while Jenny Andreotti’s vocals float over the icy mix. Sonically, the song is a slick and seamless synthesis of New Wave, psych pop, and goth, but with a bitter recognition — that nothing is permanent, that nothing lasts forever. As Jenny Andreotti explained in an interview on HighClouds, “‘Mournful Eyes’ fits into the LP theme of ‘permanency’ or realizing that nothing really is. To help represent this theme we used the 1970s psychedelic film, Life is Flashing (Before Your Eyes) by Vincent Collins to help illustrate this visually. Nothing is permanent in Collins’ films. Shapes and characters are constantly morphing and warping into new psychedelic shapes and colors throughout his film.”

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The 120 Minutes-Inspired Visuals for Fawns of Love’s Ethereal and Shoegazey “Someday”

Comprised of married duo and full-time educators Joseph and Jenny Andreotti, the Bakersfield, CA-based indie act Fawns of Love have performed together for the past 16 years, recording, touring and recording music under various names and through several different labels — and they’ve been married for the past 13 of those 16 years. In 2013, Jenny enrolled in a graduate school history program, and the duo went on a hiatus from music; but in 2017, the duo felt it was time to get back into music, and started anew with a new band name. 

The duo’s forthcoming full-length album Permanent is slated for January 18, 2019 release through Test Pattern Records, their first release through that label — and the album will be the follow-up to their recently released EP documenting their session for the renowned Los Angeles area radio show Part Time Punks, an EP that features a cover of The Chills’ “Rocket Science.” As for Permanent, the material is inspired by deeply personal experience.  “For the past year, my life has been in a complete flux,” the duo’s Jenny Andreotti explains in press notes. “People have moved away, relationships have changed, and this has challenged my belief that people’s love for you is permanent.” 

Interestingly, Permanent’s latest single is the chilly and woozy, 4AD Records heyday channeling “Someday,” a track centered around shimmering synths, four-on-the floor beats, a motorik groove, shimmering guitar chords and Jenny Andreotti’s ethereal falsetto. Sonically, the song manages to bring New Order, The Cure and others to mind, but with a gauzy, shoegazer-like quality.  The recently released video for “Someday” features some lush, black and white photography and black and white stock video footage to evoke a creepy and anxious air, all while recalling 120 Minutes-era MTV. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Comprised of Canadian-born and based Imran Haniff (vocals), British-born and Canadian based Alex Roberts (guitar), Irish-born and Canadian based John Coman (drums) and Canadian-born and based guitarist Colin Bowers, the Toronto, ON-based indie rock quartet The Holiday Crowd can trace their origins to when its founding duo Haniff and Bowers met in high school. As the story goes, the band’s founding duo had started a conversation over Bowers’ Stone Roses t-shirt, which quickly lead to the duo bonding over a mutual love of 80s guitar pop — i.e., The Smiths, The Stone Roses, The Chills, etc. — and to the duo began songwriting.  Interestingly with the release of their full-length debut Over the Bluffs, a cover of Duran Duran‘s “Friends of Mine” for the charity tribute album Making Patterns Rhyme and bit of international touring, which included a set at the 2012 PopFest Berlin and a 2013 European tour, the Canadian band quickly developed a reputation as one of their country’s finest, up-and-coming indie pop bands.

“Anything Anything” is the latest single off the band’s forthcoming, self-titled, sophomore effort, slated for an October 21, 2016 through Shelflife Records and the single will further cement the Toronto-based quartet’s reputation for shimmering and jangling guitar pop that’s not only clearly influenced by 80s guitar pop but also sounds as though it could have been released in the period that influenced it, complete with a swooning and aching Romanticism.

 

 

 

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The Chills are considered a legendary act in their native New Zealand, and are something of a cult favorite here in the States. And since the original lineup’s split up in 1993, the band has […]