Punk-Pop Legends Ash Return With Islands!

The night before I meet Ash, I caught their appearance on The Late Late Show to perform the latest single from their cracking new album, Islands. One of the tunes of the year, the frenetic 'Buzzkill' is notably profane (with a refrain of 'You killed my fucking buzz!'), although the band toned it down significantly for their appearance on RT?‘Õs flagship talk show.

"I would have loved to have done the full swearing one," chuckles Ash frontman Tim Wheeler, sitting in the bar of Jurys hotel in Christ Church in Dublin. "But I didn't want to scare any grannies!"

"The first time we played it was actually to our new label, in BMG's offices in New York," adds Ash's bassist Mark Hamilton. "It was acoustic and it was our introduction to them. So we went ahead and played it - and with the lyrics and everything, it was kind of funny."

"Completing the package, 'Buzzkill' also features backing vocals from fellow Irish legends, Damian O'Neill and Mickey Bradley of The Undertones. Presumably the two acts have been friends for quite a while.

"I got to know them through Kevin Shields' sister, Anne Marie," explains Tim. "She used to work at Warner Bros, and when we were signed to them, she arranged a dinner for me and Damian, who she was friends with. That must have been some time in the late '90s, and we've been really good friends ever since. Me and Damian did an acoustic gig together and he joined us for an Ash gig at the ICA in London.

"We also did 'Teenage Kicks' with him on Later With Jools Holland as well." Of course, The Undertones are far from the only musical icons Ash have encountered during their illustrious career. Another highlight came during their stint on Moby's Area 2 tour, where they were joined on the bill by none other than David Bowie.

"That was in the States in 2002," reflects Wheeler. "We did about 10 or 12 shows with him and we met Bowie a couple of times. He was dead nice, very charming. At the time, there was very much a sense of him being an elder statesman, he was happy with his legacy.

It was around the period of the Heathen album, I think. He seemed to be enjoying touring - he was playing Pixies songs and stuff like that, and also the Modern Lovers song 'Pablo Picasso'.

"I remember him doing 'Heroes' every night; he was doing a lot of his big hits. But he was complaining a bit to us about how hard it was to get people to look at his new records. He was slightly frustrated, but he did just accept it. Also, it was interesting seeing all these incredibly powerful people in the music industry meeting him Ð and they were just in awe."

Another rock icon the band struck up a friendship with during the recording of their Meltdown album in LA was one Dave Grohl, who would ultimately end up inviting Ash to his house for a Halloween party.

"We had the same producer and Dave used to come down to the studio quite a lot, just to borrow microphones and stuff," reflects Tim. "He'd hang out and chat to us and then he invited us to that party. It was brilliant going to his house - the person who greeted us as we arrived was Jack Black. He answered the door in an Incredible Hulk suit. That was a pretty amazing start to the party!"

"They had these giant slabs of dry ice," recalls Mark, "and they had a big swimming pool in the back yard and they'd throw them in the water. So the whole back yard was full of mist for that Halloween effect. There was literally smoke on the water! We were kind of pinching ourselves, going, 'Holy shit, weÕre actually partying with Dave in his house.'"

"I think I remember Dave trying to set off fireworks," laughs Tim. "He was dressed as a wizard." Now that they're signed with a new label for Islands, does the record feel like a rebirth for Ash?

"It's kind of a new beginning with old friends," notes Mark. "The guy who originally signed us to Infectious Records in the very beginning, we've followed his career. Warners then bought Infectious and we were on Warners for a number of years.

When he left Warners we parted ways, that's when we did the A-Z singles series. And the last album, Kablammo!, was a pledge thing. "But he then worked his way back to the top of BMG and resigned us last year. It's come full circle and it's great."

Islands is out now.