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*** Ash

TRAILER

(Reprise)

Ash are not angry punks. Sure, the music - sharp, short bursts of mangled guitar and thrashy riffs - calls to mind the three-chord simplicity of home-brewed garage punk. But singer Tim Wheeler just isn't that pissed off, so he sings instead of screams. It's a dichotomy that allows this Irish trio to sound harmoniously melodic on songs like "Jack Names the Planets" and "Different Today," then turn grating and menacing on "Obscure Thing" - all without ever raising their voices above the occasional strangled garble. With a brashness reminiscent of fellow countrymen the Undertones, they plow through the instrumental "Hulk Hogan Bubblebath" with equal aplomb. Noise, and lots of it, seems to work for Ash, who prove that sometimes you can let the guitars play the angst for you.

- Randee Dawn Cohen

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