Ash - Islands

May 18th 2018

(CD Album Review)

****

Melodies for the Summer, when you go to 'Islands' abroad

I have always liked Ash since their first record 'Trailer', which was a Grunge / Punk Rock type of affair. To their very successful first album '1977', which featured the singles and club anthems 'Kung Fu, Angel Interceptor, Goldfinger' and the massive breakthrough track 'Girl from Mars'. After this Ash went from strength to strength, adding Charlotte Hatherley to the line-up they released two of their most successful albums 'Nu-Clear Sounds' and 'Free all Angels'. 'Meltdown' the last record for Charlotte, didn't do as well as the previous two... even though I personally think it has some great songs on it.

But this led to a three year absence for the band, but in 2007 they came back with 'Twilight of the Innocents'. I think this was an album that came across really well live, and showed the band still had life in them... even though they where now a three piece. The bands sixth studio album 'Kablammo!', kind of passed me by and I have only heard a couple of songs from. This is a real shame, I don't think it was pushed enough. Maybe in time I will go back and listen to this album and it will be a hidden gem in my collection, I will just have to wait and see if I pick it up.

This brings us up to new album 'Islands', which is the band seventh studio album. Their is quite a buzz going around about this album, so I am really looking forward to hearing it. And I have to say it doesn't start off well, the first track is not really an album opener. 'True Story' does not have the fast push of tracks like 'Loose Control' or 'Walking Barefoot', both of these are really strong tracks to start an album with. 'True Story' is just a little week. I would say this track is more of a B-Side or a filler on an album, and I would say one of the songs I like the least on the record.

Single 'Annabel' in comparison is a classic Ash song, it has a bit of a push. Even though it is singing about his relationship with a girl called 'Annabel', what ever happened to 'Candy'... does Tim Wheeler get a round a bit. But then again, that was quite a few years ago. I have to say one of my favourite tracks on the album is 'Buzzkill', this is Ash back to their best... remember "You've got a beautiful face, but your f**ked up inside'. This is as good as tracks like 'Numbskull' or even 'Envy', so this is brilliant.

They go a little Killers / Coldplay with a hint Franz Ferdinand on fourth song 'Confessions in the Pool', a really commercial catchy number. I actually really like this, it has great Disco style tempo. This is so radio friendly, that it could possibly see Ash topping the charts again. They continue the commercial feel on 'All that I have Left', which has really nice melodies and show of Tim's vocals at their best. With a nice catchy melody in too boot, this is a great Pop track. They slow things down for 'Don't need your Love', a really slow track that you feel you could see in your mind Tim singing to kids in a school. It is really nice, and Ash have done tracks like this before... so it's nothing new... but that is not really a problem.

The Summer is coming... and what better than a Summer song, and Ash have always done these really well. Remember 'Shinning Light' and 'Someday', 'Somersault' is of equal standing. Even though the tempo is a little faster it has the happy feel of the Summer, I hope we hear this when the hot weather comes out. By the time we get to to 'Did your love burn Out', I feel we have had a lot of really good songs. 'Did your love burn Out' is really not what you would expect from Ash. It has elements of Blues Rock and Rock 'n' Roll, and for me really does not fit on the album. 'Silver Suit' has some nice vocal harmonies at the beginning, and then it breaks into Ash's type of Surf Rock.

This is a nice, later in the album type track that you would again put on... on a hot day. With a name like 'It's a Trap', I was expecting a fast rawkus number... but it is a very slow track. It has acoustic guitar, and great storytelling before it picks up a little. This track is a grower, and the more I hear it... the more I like it. One of the best tracks is one of the last two 'Is it True', which is a strange and interesting track. You can see that Ash are trying something new on this song. It really has worked for them to do this, the lifts on this track are great. They close the album with another slow number 'Incoming Waves', which is almost a fade out for 'Islands'.

As I said before I really like Ash, and I think this album has really shown they have grown in maturity. They were just kids when they first started out, and I think 'Islands' has shown how much they have grown over the years. But for me I would like some more up tempo numbers, I used to love to jump around to Ash on a night out. And their are not that many tracks you can do that on here, but saying all this... their are some really great well written songs. So I will be buying 'Islands' and adding it to my collection, so I think you should too.

Review by Dan Devour