ASH: NU-CLEAR SOUNDS (1998)
1) Projects; 2) Low Ebb; 3) Jesus
Says; 4) Wildsurf; 5) Death Trip; 6) Folk Song; 7) Numbskull; 8) Burn Out; 9)
Aphrodite; 10) Fortune Teller; 11) I'm Gonna Fall.
Girl presence detected! Or not detected,
because new band member Charlotte Hatherley had been hired primarily for her
guitar playing skills, thickening the sound during live performances and saving
time for extra overdubs in the studio. She does add some backing vocals as
well, but as far as I can tell, she does not get to sing lead at all (unless
she can pose as Wheeler's double).
Nor does the lineup expansion result in any
mind-blowing stylistic turn-arounds. Nu-Clear
Sounds (a really awful title, if I might add; nothing that begins with
«nu-» has ever proven to be good) starts off horrendously, with a bunch of
songs that go, «Hey! We bring you the excitement of power pop baked in grunge
guitar tones! Uncumbered with original chord changes — no more danger of
getting sidetracked by silly inventions like ʽmelodyʼ! Go with the flow, and
the Force will always be with you!» The fast-kicking «rock» of ʽProjectsʼ, the
slow-moving «meditative rhythmic balladry» of ʽLow Ebbʼ, and the third-rate
Iggy Poppisms of ʽJesus Saysʼ are the kind of total garbage past which so many
of the critics simply couldn't make it — which explains the overall cold
reception in comparison with 1977.
Dark, morose, nasty, and boring: an
unbeatable combination for anyone desiring to sully the good name of
rock'n'roll.
It does get somewhat better from there on.
ʽWild Surfʼ is another in Ash's series of Ramones-inspired bubblegum anthems,
and even though it should have been played twice as fast for optimal effect, at
least it has a friendly, funny, catchy chorus that slightly deflates the
deadly, exaggerated seriousness of the first three numbers. Then they step
back, regroup, take a deep breath, and let rip with ʽDeath Trip 21ʼ, which is
probably the closest this album really gets to nu-metal, but at least it's
faster, sharper, and flashier than ʽProjectsʼ.
But, as curious as it could be, Nu-Clear Sounds is at its best when
Wheeler quiets the band down in order to inject some sentimentalism. The basic
guitar picking of ʽFolk Songʼ, supported by a bunch of pseudo-strings in the
background, is no more outstanding than anything else here, but, all of a
sudden, Wheeler puts together a soft, cozy, naturally-sweet sounding vocal and
applies it to a catchy chorus — his "springtime slipping away, my love,
springtime slipping away" is just about the only moment on the album that
has pledged to stay with me at least until the next morning. Two tracks later,
the trick is repeated with ʽAphroditeʼ, and it almost works, except that this
time, they resort to the usual trick of «make that chorus louder! It's the
CHORUS, goddammit!», and spoil much of the effect of the "all I know 'bout
is desire baby" refrain with the same power chords that we have already
had the chance to chew up, swallow, shit out, scoop up, repeat process etc. so
many times.
In between these and other ballads, however, we
still keep getting regurgitated trash like ʽFortune Tellerʼ, which has no
instrumental melody that I am aware of, borrows its verse vocal melody from
some other song that I am fairly sure I have heard many times before, and is
not ashamed to actually quote from the other,
much better known, ʽFortune Tellerʼ (Benny Spellman / Rolling Stones / Who,
etc.) in the first line of its chorus vocal melody. I mean — come on, really,
that is not how one is supposed to
come up with new rock'n'roll songs, even if they have an explicit retro
orientation. Really!
Clearly a thumbs down here overall: for a band that gets
most of its acclaim for distorted guitar-driven rock thunderstorms, Nu-Clear Sounds produces a way too
suspicious impression of an album written by an aspiring folk songwriter, a
wannabe 1990s Donovan, cruelly mishandled by Fate and thrown into the lion den
of rock'n'rollers with a stern order to prove yourself or die trying. And
that's me attempting to put it in an interesting
framework — when, really, the album is so dead boring that I am frankly amazed
at my own self with that phrasing.
Check "Nu-Clear Sounds" (MP3) on Amazon
No comments:
Post a Comment