Ash – Singles A-Z (Volume 2)

• 19th Mar 2011

This might get complicated, so bear with me. Over the past year or so alternative-rock-grunge-Britpop band Ash have released a new single each fortnight. The result was an A-Z of twenty-six songs split into two albums. Now the songs aren’t called Apple, Boat, Cat etc. – the only A-Z part is the track listing numbers (replaced with alphabetical letters) and that they’re a collective comprehensive range of these singles. The first ‘volume’ was A-M and the second N-Z, even though they’re both called Singles A-Z Vol. 1 or 2. Confused? And I haven’t even mentioned the film documentary ‘A is for Ash’, B-sides, acoustic versions, alternate music videos and all kinds of other stuff tied in with the release yet.

Ash have received criticism from some fans, who believe the idea of A-Z being a singles-only project is spoiled by the volumes, but that’s not necessarily true. The albums contain bonus tracks but not all the B-sides of the single releases, so really there’s something different on offer however you choose to get the music. I’m sure with the integrity Ash have they wouldn’t reduce themselves to cheap money-making tactics… Insisting on vinyl copies of these twenty-six beauties, despite the expenses it incurred for the band, is just one example of their dedication to fans’ needs.

Track one, the nicely titled ‘Dare To Dream’, is a good ‘un but has to be careful its not drowned out by ‘Mind Control’ yelling “What the fuck is going on?” on the floor below. You can tell Tim Wheeler gets real satisfaction out of that chorus line, creating one brilliant sing along moment which should’ve been the album opener. Weirdly the verses in ‘Insects’ could be mistaken for Robbie Williams doing a version of ‘Everybody’s Changing’ by Keane. The UFO lover himself would surely approve of crazed lyrics about insects that “colonise your very skin”, whose “eyes watch you while you’re sleeping”. Yeah I know there’s a deeper extended metaphorical philosophical meaning in there man, but still ‘Insects’ is a ridiculous way of getting it across.

It’s difficult to produce new singles every two weeks but, as always, Ash have put out an ‘okay’ album. They’re not innovators, they just like to make middle of the road college rock that makes you say “oh, that’s nice” when it comes on the radio. Having been together since 1992 everyone is waiting to see if they’ll become the next casualty of the 90s generation bands. Maybe it’s the luck of the Irish? Oh well, so far so… inoffensive?