Ash - Twilight of the Innocents

With word afoot that this will now be Ash's last album release, with the band to instead concentrate on producing one-off single releases, is this new slim-lined machine capable of delivering that one great album they've previously alluded to? Speaking to The Skinny, Tim Wheeler confesses: "Now it's easier because we understand each other, it gives you an impetus. We've come a long way in our playing since 1977 so it's interesting to come back to it." Resultantly, there are no great surprises here and lead singles You Can't Have It All and Polaris are of the "if it ain't broke" pop-punk ilk. When they are on fire, however, Ash still push all the right buttons and on their middle salvo of Ritual, Shadows and Princess Six they emerge in fine form, which suggests that sticking to what originally broke them may be the way forward. After all, if ever there was a singles band, it was Ash. [Garry Thomson]