Pop and Jazz Reviews : Chills Fail to Raise a Ripple at Roxy

In one of the songs they performed at the Roxy on Tuesday, the Chills listed their musical models--tragic geniuses such as Brian Wilson, Nick Drake and Syd Barrett, as well as happy genius Randy Newman.

The Chills themselves, though, aren’t likely to be named in some future band’s similar litany. All good intentions (songs about male chauvinism and peace, a full page for Greenpeace in its CD booklet) and little inspiration, it’s a group that’s been around forever without anyone’s really noticing, and the Roxy performance (they also play tonight at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano and Friday at San Diego State University’s Backdoor) presented a group that’s good enough to keep going without ever raising a significant ripple.

The New Zealand band--actually singer Martin Phillipps and hired hands--kept falling short of the pure pop ecstasies it aspires to. Pleasant but anonymous, unpretentious but bland, the Chills came to life sporadically--most notably when guitarist Peter Holsapple sat in on “The Male Monster From the Id” and when Phillipps evoked fellow Drake admirer Robert Smith’s plaintive, folk-rock side.