Ash - War With Me (atomicheartsrecords)

Krystina Nellis | Tuesday, 13 April 2010

Making a series of singles and not concentrating on albums, you'd think Ash would be putting their best foot forward. But on the evidence of latest effort 'War With Me', you'd be forgiven for thinking that the series is just an excuse to chuck out songs where the band can't think of what else to do with them.

The song starts well enough, with its catchy piano riff so simple it'll be sticking in everyone's head before too long. Unfortunately by the time the chorus arrives, and even after repeated listens, the riff is about the only thing worth remembering, the rest fading into an anonymity uncharacteristic of the band.

Even the lyrics themselves don't stick in the mind, aside from the chorus line of "why'd you want a war with me?"; which sums up the song in one line, so presumably there was just no point bothering with the rest.

There's sadly nothing here to rival any of the band's past output. It's perfectly passable for what it is, but nowhere near comparable to Ash at their peak. It's music-by-numbers, even that piano riff. Maybe it's time for Ash to concentrate on albums again if this is their best foot forward.

Rating: 2/5