Line #15 Music/Ash


1	[[quoteright:267:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ash_6685.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:267: Ash's old line-up (L-R: Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton, [=Rick McMurray=] and Charlotte Hatherley]]
3	->''Do you remember the time I knew a girl from Mars?\
4	I don't know if you knew that,\
5	Oh we'd stay up late playing cards Henri Winterman cigars,\
6	Though she never told me her name,\
7	I still love you girl from Mars...''
8	-->"Girl From Mars"
9
10	Ash is an AlternativeRock band started in 1992 in UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland. Its line-up consists of:
11
12	* Tim Wheeler, guitarist, vocalist and main songwriter
13	* Mark Hamilton, bassist
14	* Rick [=McMurray=], drummer
15	* Charlotte Hatherley, guitarist and vocalist (joined 1997, left amicably in 2006)
16
17	Their style can be generally summed up as {{Britpop}} with elements of {{Grunge}}, PopPunk and PowerPop, although recently they've been experimenting with {{New Wave\|Music}} and synths.
18
19	They can also be distinguished by their love of ScienceFiction, especially ''Franchise/StarWars'' (their breakthrough album ''1977'' was named in honour of the year ''Film/ANewHope'' was released; the first sound on that album is a TIE Fighter, and the last song ends with a choral version of the ''Franchise/StarWars'' theme) and the fact that they were in their teens when they created the band.
20
21	Not to be confused with [[Franchise/EvilDead that other]] [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Ash]] or ''Literature/AshASecretHistory.''
22	----
23
24	[[AC: Discography:]]
25
26	* ''Trailer'' (1994) - a mini-album in the UK, fortified in the US by the addition of [[BSide B-sides]];
27	* ''1977'' (1996) - their first successful album
28	* ''Nu-Clear Sounds'' (1998) - the first album with Charlotte Hatherley as a bandmember
29	* ''Free All Angels'' (2001)
30	* ''Intergalactic Sonic 7[=''=]s'' (2003) - compilation; one CD contains their singles and the other, ''Cosmic Debris'', has B-sides and rarities
31	* ''Meltdown'' (2004) - last album with Charlotte Hatherley
32	* ''Twilight of the Innocents'' (2007)
33	* ''A-Z Series'' (2009-2010) - a series of single format releases somewhat similar to ''Teargarden by Kaleidyscope'' by Music/TheSmashingPumpkins
34	* ''Kablammo!'' (2015)
35	* ''Islands'' (2018)
36	* ''Race the Night'' (2023)
37	----
38
39	!! Tropes that apply to the band include:
40
41	* BadassBoast: "World Domination" and "Meltdown" have some very badass lyrics.
42	* {{Britpop}}: Mostly their early stuff.
43	* CoverVersion: "Punk Boy" by Helen Love (on ''Trailer''), the aforementioned ''Franchise/StarWars'' theme and "Cantina Band" by Music/JohnWilliams (the latter as a B-side for "Girl from Mars"), "Gimme Some Truth" by Music/JohnLennon (as a B-side for "Angel Interceptor"), "Get Ready" by Music/TheTemptations (B-side for "Goldfinger"), "Does Your Mother Know?" by Music/{{ABBA}} (B-side for "Oh Yeah"), "What Deaner Was Talking About" by Music/{{Ween}} (B-side for "A Life Less Ordinary"), "Blew" by Music/{{Nirvana}} and "Who You Drivin' Now?" by Music/{{Mudhoney}} (both B-sides for "Numbskull"), "Teenage Kicks" by The Undertones (B-side for "Sometimes"), "Melon Farmer" by Lazer-Gun Nun (on the ''Cosmic Debris'' CD), "Warmer Than Fire" by Little Hell (B-side for "Shining Light"), "[[Music/WeezerTheBlueAlbum Only In Dreams]]" by Music/{{Weezer}} (B-side for "Burn Baby Burn")
44	* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Nu-Clear Sounds'' and ''Meltdown''.
45	* HiddenTrack:
46	** ''1977'' has "Darkside Lightside" as its last listed track, but some editions tack on a few minutes of silence followed by "Sick Party"... which consists of the sounds of bassist Mark Hamilton and guitar tech Leif Bodnarchuk making themselves vomit.
47	** "Get Out", from ''Trailer'', ends in a short burst of high pitched noise: over two decades after its release, it was discovered by fans that, when played backwards and slowed down digitally, the noise revealed a full song - specifically, a demo version of "Intense Thing", a track from earlier in the same release.
48	** Unlisted on the BSide of the 7" single "I Only Wanna Be With You" is a track officially titled "Devil's Haircut": Though the title is a ShoutOut to the {{Music/Beck}} song of that name, it's an answering machine message from {{Music/Weezer}}'s Brian Bell, in which Brian gives Tim Wheeler advice on where he could get a haircut in Los Angeles. "Devil's Haircut" would be used as a hidden track again on the 2020 GreatestHitsAlbum ''Teenage Wildlife''.
49	* LyricalTic: "Woah"s and "ooh"s can be found in... Well, pretty much any Ash song.
50	* ObsessionSong: "Lost In You".
51	* PunBasedTitle: ''Nu-Clear Sounds''. "Skullfull of Sulphur". Also, the name of their first album, "Trailer", is a {{visual pun}}. As a matter of fact, its cover shows a toppled trailer (the other meaning of the title is that the band considered it a "trailer" for ''1977'')
52	* RockTrio: Since Charlotte Hatherley left the band in 2006, this applies.
53	* SingingVoiceDissonance: Tim Wheeler sings with an American accent in many songs, especially those from "Meltdown". In interviews, though, he often switches back to his normal Northern Irish accent.
54	* SomethingBlues: "Bad Karma Blues".
55	* StepUpToTheMicrophone: "Grey Will Fade", a BSide to "There's A Star", was written by Charlotte Hatherley and mostly performed by her alone - The only other member of the band appearing on the song is Rick [=McMurray=] on drums. A re-recorded version would become the TitleTrack of her first solo album.
56	* StudioChatter: At the beginning of "Meltdown". ("Ready?" "Yeah, ready!")
57	* TitleByYear: "1977", released in 1996 - named for the release year of ''Film/ANewHope''.
58	* TruckDriversGearChange: "Shining Light", changing from D to E in the final chorus.
59	* WordSaladTitle: "Astral Conversations with [[Creator/HenriDeToulouseLautrec Toulouse-Lautrec]]", "Message from Creator/OscarWilde and Patrick Brewer", "The Sweetness of Death By the Obsidian Knife", "[[ShapedLikeItself Everywhere Is All Around]]", "Heroin, Vodka, White Noise."

Context Music / Ash