Ash: "Nu-Clear Sounds" (Infectious) Let's be clear about this: Ash are not really an albums band. Their strength is in killer singles like Goldfinger, Girl From Mars, Oh Yeah and Angel Interceptor, and their debut album, 1977, was simply a cool way of getting all these great singles on one CD. The other tracks on the album just felt like fillers, but at least the Downpatrick trio's youthful enthusiasm squeezed out a few sparks. Ash are now long past their A-Levels, and they've curbed those immature impulses which got them on the cover of Party Animal Weekly. They've also added a new guitarist, Charlotte Hatherley, to their ranks, and had their biggest hit with A Life Less Ordinary, from the soundtrack to the movie starring Ewan McGregor and Cameron Diaz. Could the time be right for Ash deliver a fully-formed, adult elpee? It might well be. Nu-Clear Sounds opens with the juddering metal of Projects, which swoops in from afar and grabs you in a clawhammer grip. Then it lets you down gently with Low Ebb, a wistful, worthy successor to Oh Yeah, before stomping your preconceptions with the straight, Jesus And Mary Chain delivery of Jesus Says. Soon, however, the influences start to pile up like a motorway crash, from the Beach Boys beat of Wildsurf to the Pixies power-punk of Numb- skull to the Chemical Brothers meets Metallica frenzy of Death Trip 21. Ash handle the heavyweight artillery with consummate ease, but it's the gentle, almost dippy ballads like Folk Song, Burn Out and Aphrodite which gives Nu-Clear Sounds its heart of gold. Kevin Courtney