The first 75,000 copies of FREE ALL ANGELS include a bonus DVD.

Ash: Tim Wheeler (vocals, guitar); Charlotte Heatherley (guitar); Mark Hamilton (bass); Rick McMurray (drums).

Principally recorded in London, England in 2000.

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.

Still looking into the storefront of American pop culture from the outside despite the success of fellow Brit-poppers like Starsailor and Travis, Ash continues plugging away on FREE ALL ANGELS, their fourth effort. Casting their fate to the wind, Tim Wheeler and company abandon the electronic nuances that rang throughout their last album NU-CLEAR SOUNDS and instead crank the amps to 11. Despite the decision to thrash their way through ANGELS in a fit of punk-pop-fueled brio, Ash's indelible melodies and sticky hooks remain very much in evidence. Mining the eternal themes of summer fun, this Irish quartet makes like The Undertones on the infectious one-tow punch of "Walking Barefoot" and "Shining Light." Other nuggets of ear-candy include the Jesus And Mary Chain-flavored workout "Cherry Bomb," chugging "Pacific Palisades" and breezy "Sometimes."

Most ambitious is the lush "Candy," a keyboard drenched love song that shamelessly samples the Walker Brothers' cover of Burt Bacharach's "Make It Easy on Yourself." Anglo-philes also benefit from the inclusion of the bonus cut "So The Story Goes," a lolling harmony-fest, enhanced CD ROM and a free DVD available on the limited edition package.