Review of the Ash Red debut album 'The Foreign Game'
- Jonah Hoy
- 7 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
As Cork's post-punk power trio Ash Red realise their potential with a much anticipated debut album The Foreign Game, we asked Jonah Hoy to review it.
The bass-heavy and smooth post-punk outlet Ash Red have released their debut album, The Foreign Game. It features tracks that are fast-paced, melodic and aggressive. Ash Red's new album imagines what happened if Ian Curtis got pissed off instead of depressed.
One thing about Irish and UK (post) punk bands is that they are way more catchy than their American counterparts. Across the pond, acts weave new wave and aggression effortlessly, like the Clash and The Jam. Even though you can hear all the influences, you can't really pin this band down.
The Foreign Game is a work that, once I think I have this band figured out, like, "Oh that's totally Bauhaus and Joy Division" then a track like Island's Edge turns into a hardcore Drain and Turnstile palm muted breakdown. There are so many surprises in the album, like Alone Again where you can hear the Cranberries tribute clearly, but when the solo comes in, it's that liquid smooth shred.
You can't pin them down, and it makes them so versatile; not in a way where a band says they don't have a genre, thinking that'll make them more appealing. It's like a perfect cocktail of the last 50 years of alt and punk grouped together.
Hardcore and punk are not known for their vocal range, but Ash Red do a great job throwing that pure, punk passion out there, but it's right on key and catchy.
Angry and apathetic: contradictory yes, but they go in and out of whole-hearted sincerity with a sleazy, don't care attitude from the late 70s. One of my favourite things is when a band can scream and it's catchy. Hardcore and punk are not known for their vocal range, but Ash Red do a great job throwing pure, punk passion out there, and it's right on key and catchy.
There is no doubt why they are sp popular - because they have something many bands have been trying to get back, but can't even touch. Once this sound in particular became big, anything after the initial movement sounded like a cheap copy. Ash Red have rediscovered the first two waves of alt and punk in a way that's so fresh.
This band and this album are fantastic, and there really isn't any other way to put it. I don't know what your parents are like, but I'm guessing you, the reader, got your music taste from them in the beginning. Anything after The Clash is hit or miss, and this is the perfect amount of nostalgia where parents and kin might agree on something for once.
The Foreign Game is an excellent work of musicianship, and this is a total recommendation for anyone who loves the 80s and even newer stuff because it hits all the rungs in just the right way.
Standout track: Hopeless
Gas rating: 8/10
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The vinyl album is available to pre order here:
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