both born in dunedin in the '80s, the chills and i grew up together. or, more like, i grew up with them. because of this, they hold a special place in my heart and always have. may i one day have the privilege of seeing them live....
the chills grew out of the post-punk era, one of a number of bands in dunedin embracing the unconventional nature of punk, but growing those elements into a more mature, more technically talented sound. someone who can frame it much better than me, wade ronald churton in 'have you checked the children' (a book i read religiously as a teenager and which i thoroughly recommend to anyone with an interest in the new zealand punk and post-punk scene of the late-70s and early 80s) writes: "at a time when the echoes of punk were fading in a haze of violence and mutation elsewhere, in dunedin the ethics of punk and the character of the city had produced a fertile pool of musicians and songwriters which had ignored fleeting trends. in time, the fermentation in isolation of the city's punk-influenced alternative music would go on to produce a genuinely rich and influential indigenous new zealand movement."
...and so was born the dunedin sound. you can shun the dunedin sound all you want, but the point stands that dunedin is and long has been an incubator for talent, for creating music that doesn't conform to a particular trend, and that sounds different to that created in bigger centres. but I digress.
there was a time were the chills - and especially 'heavenly pop hit' were my happy place. so familiar, so all-encompassing and perfect, full of heart and soul, and the best intentions. like the warm hug of a best friend really. this is an album full of classics - kaleidoskope world, i love my leather jacket, pink frost, wet blanket, doledrums, never never go, to name but a few of my many, many favourites - that never fails to buoy my spirits. maybe it's a dunedin thing, maybe it's a familiarity thing, but listening to the chills is like coming home.
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