ASH
Nu-Clear Sounds
(Infectious)
The definitive moment on the
second 'proper' Ash album occurs in the switchover from 'Folk Song' to
'Numbskull'. The former is delicate and open-hearted, a development on
Tim Wheeler's shy-boy personna. But within seconds, the sound gets amped-up,
distorted and ugly, in an Iggy Pop kind of a way. Then you hear the singer
declare: "rebel against your destiny / going further than I've ever been!"
Did you worry that the Ash kids
were going to get snared on the teen ideal of their chart-topping '1977'
album? Was there a real danger that they'd beome a cartoon band like the
Ramones, forever bopping but rarely progressing? Well, here's the denial
of all that.
'Nu-Clear Sounds' rocks like a medium-sized
beast, but is simultaneously 'mature' without being cheesey or complacent.
Tim is still love-stricken and hung-up by the compromising demands of the
adult world. But he brings a more worldly attitude to bear on those issues
now.
The ambience of New York is written all over here. Specifically, the nasty,
rock and roll areas, like the Bowery, East Village, and the legendary dope
den on Lexington 125, where Lou Reed visited during the Velvet Underground's
'Waiting For My Man'. That dazed demeanour is reprised on the recent Ash
single 'Jesus Says'.
The guys must have been devouring
their VU albums, again evidenced on the closing ballad, 'I'm Gonna Fall',
a swooning relative of Lou's 'Pale Blue Eyes'. It's a towering body of
work to emulate, but the Ash charm, (allied to the fact than they weren't
even born when this stuff was happening) helps to justify the gig.
The New York Dolls are another key
band in this new adventure; sleazy, stack-heeled and fond of an almighty
guitar crunch. One of their high moments was 'Pills', and you detect a
homage on the Tim Wheeler composition, 'Fortune Teller', which mainlines
the same deal of paranoia and abandon, and almost carries it off, albeit
too cleanly.
There's a few examples of the difficult
'Second Album Syndrome', whereby a tour-dazed band has a limited amount
of time to write and record new material. And in currrent interviews, Tim
has been alluding to the writer's block he suffered in the lead-up to this
record. But this album is mainly brave and triumphant, benefitting from
new guitarist Charlotte Hatherely, who allows for a more weighty sonic
dimension. Listen to 'Wildsurf' and hear a band feeling delighted and assured,
playing with fancy chord changes but resolutely fuzzy and brattish.
'Nu-Clear sounds' takes Ash right
out of the junior-grunger league, and points them towards the stage marked
'Classic Rock And Roll'. They may make better, more consistent records
in the future, but this may prove to be their most important creation.
(8)
Stuart Bailie
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