ASH

This is a happy kick, with big guitars and a big attack and onrushing energy, and it's no tedious retro punk record, either. Seven years out of high school, and high a-top the British charts in their teens, the 20-something Irish boys (and English girl) haven't lost any of their pop (in any sense of the word). No, they've stepped it up a notch, while adding layers to a post-Nirvana, post-Jesus & Mary Chain firewall that sounds modern. Most of all, leader Tim Wheeler's sunny melodies, so rare for music this aggressive and harsh, come to him so unequivocally that he should have to donate the excess he wrote for this LP to some public trust. Free All Angels' high-action burners would make anyone want to sing: big wall-bangers like the utterly panting, lascivious "Cherry Bomb," the 1964 Beach Boys-inspired "Pacific Palisades," the dashed love of "Nicole," the bravado of "World Domination," the Undertones-esque "Walking Barefoot," the nasty edge of "Shark," and most of all, this LP's out and out bomb, the well-titled "Burn Baby Burn." In the spirit of Hüsker Dü, China Drum, Compulsion, and The Replacements, these songs are hard-hitting yet in-the-pocket -- and Ash adds its trademark youthful enthusiasm, shining out of these grooves like a signal flare. And to keep Free All Angels from getting samey, they add some full-on dream pop in the single "Shining Light," and some full-on lull-out in the sublime, strings-comely "Someday," "There's a Star," and the demure, purring "Sometimes." And as a change-up, there's the way-kinky, dance-groove rump shaker, "Submission," with drummer Rick "Rock" McMurray and bassist Mark Hamilton pounding the funky rock groove like a sped-up Stone Roses' Mani and Reni. These flavors insure that the bursting crank-up of the bangers are that much more electrifying. Ash are even more hot rod now with more experience. They're a great rock 'n' roll band by any measure. [A Japanese version included bonus tracks.] Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover.

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