Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
STILL BURNING BRIGHT
A LOOK BACK ON SOME OF THE TOP MOMENTS OF ASH’S 25 YEAR LEGACY
Downpatrick 3 piece Ash are an unusual prospect, the exception to a bunch of rules. Since 1992 – when Tim Wheeler was 15 – they’ve released a record pretty much every two or three years, not one of them poorly received. They’ve never visited the wilderness, having kept a healthy fanbase while playing consistently memorable shows all around the world – for 25 years. Most notably of all – they’ve had the same core line up from year zero – Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton and Rick Mcmurray. So many indie and rock acts who ‘peaked’ during those wonky Britpop years have either ended up in
the bin – or, at best, are rolled out to celebrate some meaningless anniversary of a key record – before disappearing back to obscurity. Ash – on the other hand – have simply stuck to their guns, always sounding fresh and fun.
It’s 2018 and Ash are still busy. In fact – they’ll celebrate a fantastic, fun and noisy new album on the main stage at The Biggest Weekend at the end of the month. Here’s a few standout moments from twenty five years of mayhem.
GUARANTEED REAL TEENAGERS
Previous to Ash there was Vietnam – a band featuring Mark and Tim (formed when they were 13) – that mostly performed Iron Maiden Covers. As awesome as that sounds, drummer Rik Mcmurray was called up and Ash were formed, early releases clarifying that they were ‘Guaranteed Real Teenagers’. The late, great ‘Cosmic’ Ray Valentine was responsible for early demos, recorded in a Strangford shed.
THE PENNY FARTHING AND THE DOWN ARTS CENTRE
A few years back, we dug up footage of Ash onstage in Downpatrick in the early 1990s – a remarkably youthful Tim Wheeler looking like a lost child in a shopping centre – while surrounded by a mess of unruly stage divers. Visits to the big smoke would see them pack out a notorious venue called The Penny Farthing (now The Kremlin).
SEEING THE HEAD MASTER
With management sorted, a ‘proper’ release (mini album ‘Trailer’ in 1994), some BBC Radio 1 airplay and the single ‘Uncle Pat’ soundtracking a TV ad for Heineken beer, Ash gained momentum. English band Elastica – huge at the time – invited them out on tour. The only problem was, Tim and Mark were studying for their A-levels. Thankfully the headmaster at Down High agreed to let them put rock n’ roll first. They’d eventually celebrate completing their A-levels by appearing on Top of the Pops.
THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD
At the end of 1994, Ash played The Ulster Hall – opening for Therapy?, then at the peak of their powers. Portadown’s Joyrider played in the middle. Needless to say it wasn’t long before Ash would headline the same venue off their own bat.
SICK PARTY
People forget that Ash went on a run of ‘Kung Fu’ to ‘Girl From Mars’ to ‘Angel Interceptor’ to ‘Goldfinger’ to ‘Oh Yeah’ – around the release of their debut album proper. Four of those singles went top twenty – a remarkable, unprecedented achievement. But they were still ‘Guaranteed Real Teenagers’ and ‘1977’ finishes with the band laughing, swearing and vomiting.
THE POP REFERENCES
1977 was – in a roundabout way – a tribute to Star Wars. The band – especially the (aptly named) Mark Hamil-ton watched the original movies practically on a loop – and the title is reference to the year the original movie was released. There’s also the sound of a TIE fighter opening the record – and Ash even recorded their own version of the music played by the aliens in the ‘Chalum’s Cantina’ bar – again a reference to the first movie. There was more bizarre pop culture references elsewhere – they’d a track called ‘Hulk Hogan Bubblebath’ and the cover-art for ‘Kung Fu’ featured Eric Cantona’s famous, um… kung fu kick.
THE TRICKY SECOND RECORD
Despite lead single ‘A Life Less Ordinary’ featuring on the Danny Boyle movie of the same name – and Ash being proper rockstars upon it’s release, 2nd album ‘Nuclear Sounds’ almost bankrupted the band. Burnt out from touring 1977 – and under huge pressure following that record’s huge success – Mark, Tim and Rick – joined by new guitarist Charlotte Hatherley – rebelled against expectations and released a dark, jagged and grungey follow up record. I saw them second to last on the main stage at Reading Festival around the album’s release – and the new songs sounded incredible. But the band faced financial ruin – with a lead singer threatening to go off the rails.
DO OR DIE
There’s something about Northern Irish bands and third records – Snow Patrol faced similar obscurity after album number two – then the wrote ‘Run’. As for Ash – at the turn of the century, Tim Wheeler went home to Downpatrick and wrote music in his parents house, knowing his band fighting for survival. Not only did songs like ‘Burn Baby Burn’ and ‘Shining Light’ save Ash – they also pretty much guaranteed the band a long term career.
ASH – THE MOVIE
Of all the bizarre antics, this is surely the most…. bizarre. In 2002 – while touring Free All Angels – Ash shot a movie – or at least tried to, with a camcorder.
The cast is pretty remarkable – Chris Martin of Coldplay as FBI Shervet Bones, Dave Grohl, James Nesbitt, Neil Hannon – with members of The Hives and Weezer making cameos. While the film was never completed or released – we’re promised that it does exist – and short scenes have appeared online, most notably in the video for the Ash track ‘Binary’.
THE U TURN
In 2008 Ash announced they wouldn’t record any more albums – reacting to how the music industry was changing. A mess of tracks were released as an ‘A-Z’ series in 2010 – ironically featuring some of the bands finest tracks amongst a run of 27 (don’t ask) singles. The rifftastic ‘Return of White Rabbit’ and Shining Light-esque ‘True Love 1980’ remain fan favourites. Then, in 2015 they sheepishly released a new album...
STILL GOING STRONG
2018 finds Ash as strong and confidant as ever. ‘Buzzkill’ was the gloriously cocky (and notably rude) lead single off new album Islands while the summer-y ‘Annabel’ – confirms that Tim Wheeler is blatantly incapable of writing a dud tune . A spot on the mainstage at The Biggest Weekend – at which they’re the biggest local act on the bill – is yet another victory lap for a band who refuse to be anything other than awesome. ISLANDS – the new record from Ash – is out on May 18th