Meltdown

What does a band do if it scores the biggest success of its career with an album of unashamed pop songs? Most would simply record another. Ash, instead, have followed up the hugely popular mainstream sounds of ‘Free All Angels’ with an album full of pure, untamed rock.

‘Clones’ is easily the heaviest track the British quartet have ever unleashed – a grinding monster of thundering drums, raging guitars and uncharacteristically aggressive vocals from frontman Tim Wheeler.

But the singer, and chief songwriter, has lost none of his ability to create melodies that would have impressed even Lennon and McCartney. So, for all its Neanderthal excesses, ‘Clones’ features a hook so contagious it should come with an addiction warning.

Actually, the warning applies to the entire album which crams in as many catchy melodies as it does guitar solos and drum rolls – which is a lot. ‘Detonator’ is an instantly memorable lumbering 60s sounding rocker with shades of early Who songs, while the hyperactive ‘Meltdown’ hits your head and gut with equal intensity.

‘Renegade Cavalcade’ borrows generously from the White Stripes before exploding into a chorus that’s pure vintage Beatles.

But it’s not all adrenaline and mayhem. With its elevating chorus, ‘Starcrossed’ outdoes The Darkness’ ‘Love is Only a Feeling’ as this year’s rock power ballad of choice. ‘Won’t Be Saved’, meanwhile, is a bouncy, frothy 60s era pop song with another huge, melodic chorus.

It’s only the overly contrived ‘Evil Eye’ that takes the memorable melody approach a bit too far, sounding more like a repetitive, overly simplistic nursery rhyme than an inspired slice of rock ‘n roll.

This brief stumble aside, ‘Meltdown’ is a positively brash, yet finely crafted, rock album that will have you hauling out the air guitar as Ash go onto even greater success.