With a new album, Twilight of the Innocents, in the shops this week, Ash opened their latest campaign on Tuesday with the first of four nights at the fashionable Koko nightspot and some bullish remarks in the London press. Declaring themselves to be “way better than the Beatles” may seem a little optimistic, but there is no doubt that the group, who formed 15 years ago in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, has returned with a renewed spring in their step.

The decision to revert to a trio since the departure of guitarist Charlotte Hatherley last year has clearly sharpened their resolve. It was momentarily like old times seeing the singer and guitarist Tim Wheeler, the bass player Mark Hamilton and the drummer Rick McMurray take the stage without Hatherley, who joined the group in 1996. But it swiftly became apparent how much has changed since the band’s first flush of success.

For one thing, Wheeler’s singing has improved significantly. The impatient teenager who was content to paste a wobbly approximation of the tunes above a cacophonous wash of guitar noise is now a 30-year-old man of the world singing with accuracy and conviction. And the scope of his songwriting has also stretched to embrace a more sophisticated range of themes and melodies.

The stage was dressed like the first scene from Macbeth, with three skeletal trees reaching up from the back line equipment and incandescent flashes of white strobe lighting punctuated I Started A Fire, the first of seven songs they played from the new album.

You Can’t Have it All, with its clanging guitar riff, lolloping dance-rock groove and infectious chorus, was an early highlight, while Ritual was a quieter, more reflective song with an attractive pop melody. But it was the title track of Twilight of the Innocents that most impressed; a long, twisting epic with added (recorded) keyboard effects that worked up to a dramatic conclusion as Wheeler repeatedly yelled the line “I’m still breathing”, like a drowning man.

Along with the new material there was a full complement of old favourites, including Goldfinger, King Fu, Girl from Mars and a glorious rendition of Oh Yeah with its line about it being “the start of the summer” sounding as optimistic as ever. It’s good to keep wishing.

Ash play Koko again tonight. Box office: 0870 1451115

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