ASH - ALBUM REVIEW

Ash - Race The Night (Fierce Panda Records) 

Release Date: Out Now

With so many bands from the 90s making a comeback or trying to maintain some sort of a career but a lot of them have not matched their former glittering standards. Then there's Ash. The Belfast trio have, in 'Race The Night', produced a superb British rock album that would stand alone without the glow of their previous accomplishments. The album opens with the title track and 'Race The Night' is an instant 100mph indie-rock stomp with the pomp of the killers, Tim Wheeler's trademark vocal and the kind of energy that will fans bouncing up and down from the first bars onward. Recent single 'Usual Places' continues the energy while introducing a sense of nostalgia before 'Reward In Mind' is the first heavier track with elements of the Foo Fighters and the Subways in the crunching guitars and piledriver drums. 

After such a strong and powerful start, you can forgive Ash dropping the pace a bit as they do on 'Oslo', a song built around a gentle strum and swooning cello but with the added dimension of the sumptuous but delicate guest vocals of Demira. The party continues with former single 'Like A God' which still sounds like AC/DC having a fight with Led Zep at the top of Everest during a thunder storm and that, just in case you were wondering, sounds awesome. The trio embrace their teenage spirits on the short sharp shock of Peanut Brain which sounds like classic Ash (with a hint of Weezer) before the wistful and dreamy 'Crashed Out Wasted' lets you drift off for a good six minutes thinking about all those wonderful times you spent out of your box with your mates. 

On 'Braindead' is a tribal slab of rock, a monolith if you will, that is the sound of three mates having fun making rock'n'roll music and not holding back with what they think ("God bless you, you dumb fuck, ain't seen a human before"). There's a doomy, almost metal vibe to 'Double Dare' which, along with the DJ scratches, makes this sound like an early Incubus track before 'Over & Out' comes crashing in with a wicked drum riff and the kind of song you want to drive fast to with the top down and your shades on. We then get treated to a clattering instrumental reprise of 'Like A God' and Ash ride off in to the sunset on Harley Davidson's powered by the spirit of rock'n'roll. I don't think Ash really ever went away but if they had, this would be a roaring comeback. As it is, this is just a cracking album with Ash exploring their heavier side and I couldn't find a fault with it even if I wanted to. 

More information: https://www.facebook.com/ash

Live Dates: 

Wed 20th Sept | Rough Trade East London (7pm) - SOLD OUT
Thu 21st Sept | Tower Records Dublin (7pm)

On tour with the Subways

Sat 30 Sept - De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill, UK
Sun 01 Oct - Marble Factory, Bristol, UK
Tue 03 Oct - Rock City, Nottingham, UK
Wed 04 Oct - Barrowland, Glasgow, UK
Thu 05 Oct - Leeds Beckett SU, Leeds, UK
Sat 07 Oct - NX, Newcastle, UK
Mon 09 Oct - The Academy, Dublin, IE
Tue 10 Oct - O2 Ritz, Manchester, UK
Wed 11 Oct - O2 Kentish Town Forum, London, UK
Sun 19 Nov - De Helling, Utrecht, NL
Mon 20 Nov - Das Bett, Frankfurt, DE
Tue 21 Nov - Bürgerhaus Stollwerck, Cologne, DE 
Thu 23 Nov - Faust, Hannover, DE
Fri 24 Nov - Plan B, Malmo, SE
Sat 25 Nov - Beta, Copenhagen, DK
Mon 27 Nov - Rockefeller, Oslo, NO
Tue 28 Nov - Debaser, Stockholm, SE
Thu 30 Nov - Kesselhaus, Berlin, DE
Fri 01 Dec - Beatpol, Dresden, DE
Sat 02 Dec - Lucerna Music Bar, Prague, CZ
Mon 04 Dec - PPC, Graz, AT
Wed 06 Dec - Plaza Klub, Zurich, CH
Thu 07 Dec - Technikum, Munich, DE
Fri 08 Dec - Im Wizemann, Stuttgart, DE
Sun 10 Dec - Botanique, Brussels, BE
Mon 11 Dec - Le Petit Bain, Paris, FR