Ash- 'Twilight of the Innocents' (Infectious) Released 02/07/07

Apparently, this is it for Ash. Not as a band entirely, but ‘Twilight Of The Innocents’ will be their final full length album, with any further music produced reaching our ears through downloads only. Whether that proves to be the case or not, there is certainly a morose, end of the line feeling running through a lot of the songs assembled here. It’s hard to believe that the band are now all in their 30’s and are long established as fixtures on the Brit-rock scene, considering the youthful vibrancy that normally flows throughout their best work. With guitarist Charlotte Hatherley now off pursuing a solo career, Ash are now back to being a three piece for their self produced swansong.

However opening track ‘You Started A Fire’ suggests that it’s a case of same old, same old, the harder rock edge of 2004‘s ‘Meltdown‘ gone. Instead, it’s the usual dose of energetic pop-punk that the band have always been proficient at conjuring up but suffers for that same reason: everything about it feels like Ash by numbers, a band going through the motions. Sadly, this occurs throughout ‘Twilight’ and really hampers it, a case of formulaic material being trotted out time and again. There’s a plodding atmosphere on the likes of ‘Shattered Glass’ while the jagged guitar and lengthy solo of ’Ritual’ can’t disguise the weary air that permeates it, nor the fact you suspect Tim Wheeler can write tracks like it in his sleep. Even, recent single ‘Polaris’ suffers a similar fate, its heavily hyped piano intro giving way to an overwrought middle of the road ballad.

That isn’t to suggest that these tracks are utterly interminable,  it’s just that you’re left wanting something more, rather than what seems to be re-hashes of (admittedly catchy) prior work. However, there are still moments that impress here. The band are still capable of powerful rhythms while Wheeler’s song writing remains as sharp as ever and this time seems to being powered along by a cynical, dark heart. With talk of suicide, Hell, death and broken promises, this features some of his most bitter, intense lyrics, suggesting a new degree of introspection and maturity.

Evidence of this can be found on the revved up thrust of ‘Palace of Excess’ and the strum along pop of ‘End of the World’, which features Wheeler musing that “If I die, will anyone notice?” to an oddly summery, cheerful backing. More aggressive is the album’s first single, the Muse esque bass driven ‘You Can’t Have It All’, which contains a chorus venomous and strong enough to level a small building.

Best of all is the album’s title track, an epic six minute plus closer, which is an absolute Hollywood blockbuster of a tune, with strings added to an slow building piece of work that grows and grows until it becomes a thumping stadium rock beast of a song, a stirring, pulsating conclusion to the album. Sadly, there just isn’t enough of that throughout this album. Too many of the songs here are just a bit too generic for their own good, meaning that Ash’s final bow is far more under-whelming than hoped for.