Ash – Teenage Wildlife: 25 Years of Ash (2020)

January 16, 2020 Nicole Mendes Ash, Indie Rock

Several years ago, never mind how many, a young and impressionable girl sat before her laptop. The aim of her Google search was to find a song with the same title as her name. Despite being a relatively popular name in the 80s and 90s, the task was by no means an easy one. In fact, only one track could be identified. The name is ‘Nicole’ and the bad is Ash.

Alright, alright, so I’m the girl and I was rather disappointed at the lack of songs entitled ‘Nicole’. The one good thing from this pointless search was discovering the Northern Irish indie-rock band, Ash. As an obsessive music enthusiast, I immediately rummaged through their discography. Despite not being a great fan of indie-rock or Britpop, I quickly fell in love with the band.

Not quite a ‘greatest hits’ collection, their upcoming album is filled with some goodies, oldies and even some new singles. The mammoth Teenage Wildlife: 25 Years of Ash demonstrates the band’s movement from stereotypical teenagers jamming in their Dad’s garage to adults sharing the stage with Weezer and holding positions on the UK Singles Chart.

Including some of Ash’s iconic tracks, such as ‘Girl From Mars’, ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘Angel Interceptor’, Teenage Wildlife encapsulates the band’s highs and lows over the past 25 years. From the balladesque ‘Sometimes’ to more punk than pop ‘Buzzkill’ and almost metal ‘Clones’, the album demonstrates Ash’s ability to tackle different genres but still maintain their unique and recognisable sound. ‘Heroin Vodka White Noise’ is a particularly fascinating addition. Not only does it show Wheeler’s poignant vocals, but it also shows insightful songwriting and effortless harmonising with simple instrumentation.

With over 50 tracks, it’s difficult to choose a favourite song on Ash’s new album. ‘Kung Fu’ and ‘Candy’ have the juvenile power-pop approach, but then there’s maturity in ‘Annabel’ and ‘Confessions In The Pool’. My opinion? The conglomeration of innocent 1977 tracks with the mordent Islands takes you on a journey from child to adult. My only disappointment is that ‘Nicole’ didn’t make the cut.

Teenage Wildlife: 25 Years of Ash is scheduled to drop on February 14th, 2020. Supported by an extensive European tour, Ash fever is sure to hit the continent!

Discover more Ash on their official website, Twitter, Facebook and Spotify. You can buy tickets to their 2020 tour at seetickets.com and their official website.