"Polaris," from the up-coming longplayer Twilight of the Innocents, is something of a disappointment when you look back at Ash's past singles record: "Girl From Mars," "Burn Baby Burn," "A Life Less Ordinary." Forget the Buzzcocks, Intergalactic Supersonic 7"s is the premier punk/pop singles package of the modern era. Ash could have stopped right there, Ivor Novello firmly in hand, but they didn't, and though the metal mania of 2004's Meltdown had the band burn up the flying Vs in a flurry of hard-rockin' nonsense, it lacked some of Tim Wheeler's characteristic songwriting chutzpah - a la the concluding, joyful key change in "Shining Light" or "Envy"'s girl-bop philandering. With spare guitarist Charlotte Hatherley having called it a day, Ash now revert to the classic power pop three-piece formation, and one hopes this gives Wheeler a chance to knock out some good ones this time round. First single "Polaris" sucks with alarming confidence: ersatz strings swamp the mega-sized indie ballad jangle, making Wheeler's outstretched vocals the weak focal point and the band all for broke. It powers, it plods, it higher-registers (in the chorus); everything is in its right place. But Ash have never been master-stylists, and this Coldplay-sized stab at maturity lacks the winning hooks of their good material.

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