| Youth
isn't everything, of course. No sooner are you pop's finest teens than
you find yourself drifting into the post-A-level-something doldrums of
encroaching old age. The legend of teen marketing has it that you're no
loger relevant, barely credible and' no doubt' your teeth and hair are
soon to go the way of your pop career. The only hope is to become a proffesional
teenager like that long haired geezer from "Cracker", who is wheeled out
every time a director wants someone young ans 'avin' it... or Robbie Williams.
In the real world, we know that
youth isn't everything. It may be a passport to energy, vitality or arrogance,
but it's also a signifier for music that shoots it's load in the first
few seconds. Check Ash's trigger-happy debut album' "1977", for the sound
of punk-pop going through the trials and tribulations of premature ejeculation.
No stamina, no lasting power but a brief few moments of naive pleasure
along the way.
With "Nu-clear Sounds", Ash face
up to the eternal youth dilemma with class. As the grand old daddies of
Bratpop, they could have tried to retain that aura of bright and breezy
kids. They could have made a stab at maturity by introducing dance beats,
big band numbers and a few sequins, but, thankfully, Tim Wheeler and friends
have followed their instincts and delved into the sounds that shook their
worlds when they were growing up. Bands like Thin Lizzy, whose bar room
blues still sound relevant today, or melodic hardcore acts like Visions
Of Change, Senseless Things or Snuff, whose combination of punk's fuck-you
energy and pop's infectious fuck-me melody sifts through every note on
this album.
Check "Wildsurf", which comes
on like Nirvana covering the Monkees and goes out like The Beach Boys on
PCP. "Death Trip 21" is the sound of the mosh pit on fire, a million miles
away from "Girl From Mars", it joyrides past "Go" burning the money and
heading to another galaxy, before "Numbskull", screams like Jon Spencer
and explodes like the Stooges.
But it's not all on-the-edge
old school rock. With "Folk Song", the band echo both The Velvet Underground
and the Lemonheads. Classic post-high school stuff.
With "Nu-clear Sounds", Ash are
grown up enough to explore history. They understand that the future obsessions
of the here and know are impotent without a knowledge of the past. Ash
understand that you're only as young as the music you play. On "Nu-clear
Sounds", Ash are well into their 30's and at this rate they'll be hitting
60 by their next opus. Every song tells its own aged history and youth...
is just it's marketing tool.
Martin James
5/5 |
MATTER
OF FACTS
Stuff you probably never
knew about Ash.
"Jack Names The Planets", their
first single came out while the boys were still studying for their A-levels.
Not that interesting until you realise...
... At the same time, they also
turned down a tour with Pearl Jam. Had some exams to sit apparently.
"Kung Fu" came with one of the
coolest record sleeves ever. Yup, that photo of Eric Cantona drop-kicking
a Crystal Palace fan. Big and clever.
Apart from being the most un-rock
looking person ever, drummer Rick's nickname is Rock on account of him
owning a pair of leather trousers.
The band's distinctive logo was
recently rejigged much to their annoyance as, apparently it looked
like it said "fish". |