Despite being more or less permanent mainstays of the British music scene for the past decade, the members of Ash are all still only in their mid-twenties, which perhaps goes some way towards explaining this rumbustious return to their rock roots.

All metallic guitars and molten grooves, Meltdown was recorded on the West Coast of America — that near-mythical wonderland where, according to Ash’s lead singer, Tim Wheeler, “rock music is really alive”. He might well have a point, as you can feel the power coursing through supercharged songs such as Clones and Detonator. Indeed, Wheeler’s whole-hearted embrace of California’s freewheeling heritage extends to his lyrics, with the former teenage sci-fi geek proclaiming gleefully on Orpheus that he’s “heading for the open road”. Sadly, the reedy vocals still show he’s born to be mild rather than wild, Ash’s only weak link.

Meltdown crackles with a confidence derived from hard-earned experience. The wide-eyed innocence of The Girl from Mars has been superseded by worldly wise scepticism (Evil Eye) and sinister S&M imagery (Vampire Love), while the titanic title track is so sure of itself that it almost swaggers from the speakers. Veterans they may now be, but clearly Ash aren’t ready to go quietly into the night just yet.

(Homegrown/Infectious)

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