Intergalactic Sonic 7"s [2 CD]

The Free All Angels singles continue this remarkable tradition, best demonstrated in "Sometimes", a song as close to perfection as possible that--along with "Shining Light", "Burn Baby Burn" and "Walking Barefoot" (not actually a single, but one that should have been)--show the maturity in Wheeler's songwriting and musicianship that resurrected his band from the edge of disaster after the fallout from the non-conforming Nu-Clear Sounds. Token new track "Envy" seems pale in comparison, largely due to the quality of Free All Angels material, but at least the grimy New York gutter riffage of the swaggering "Jesus Says" and summertime exuberance of "Wildsurf" are given the air they need here. Also present is the much-underrated but indispensable "A Life Less Ordinary", finally in a place that it deserves along with some earlier efforts ("Petrol") that perhaps are not. Ash are what teenagers with guitars should sound like, because teenage boys care about girls and getting wasted, not becoming victims of conformity. --Ben Johncock