Trailer is a mini album by the band Ash featuring their first three singles. An expanded edition also includes four B-sides. The album was released in October 1994 through Infectious Records. The band considered it a "trailer" for their future debut album proper, and named it accordingly.

"Uncle Pat" was featured in a Heineken advert, which helped to raise the profile of the band, both in Ireland and Britain.

Background

Trailer was produced by Mark Waterman. Tim Russell mixed "Season", "Intense Thing", "Uncle Pat" and "Get Out".

The 'noise' at the end of the track "Get Out", when reversed, slowed down and the pitch altered, is a low quality demo version of the song "Intense Thing". This track wasn't discovered until June 2006 by 2 fans experimenting around with running different effects through Ash songs.

Release

Trailer was issued in October 1994, One vinyl repressing of it was issued with a 7" containing BBC recordings of "Silver Surfer" and "Jazz 59". Around this, Marshall was attended a CMJ convention in New York City, looking for potential options for the band in the United States. Of the various labels, Marshall said Tim Carr, the A&R vice-president of Reprise Records, was enthusiastic about the group "from Day One," going as far to fly to the UK to watch the band perform twice. By May 1995, Ash had signed to Reprise; the deal only covered North and South America, which differed from typical major label contracts with indie labels in the UK. It was intentional on Infectious Records' part, who wanted to boost their brand by licensing their artists to labels for particular markets. Prior to the US release of 1977, Trailer had sold 7,162 copies in that territory. "Jack Names the Planets" was released as a single there on August 15, 1995, to promote the soundtrack to the film Angus (1995). Trailer was released in the US on 12 September 1995.

Reception

Several critics complimented the songwriting. Heibutzki praised Wheeler's "relentlessly catchy confections" for "stand[ing] up to the Britpop vanguard's finest hours", and mentioned that the band "emphasizes stripped-down velocity over finesse." Imran Ahmed of The Guardian said it offers a valuable snapshot of a growing songwriting talent." Consumable Online write Tim Mohr added to this, saying said it "yielded a catch of sloppy punk-pop songs, loud, fast, and fun ... certifying that the album was made by real teenagers and that certain songs were written in 5 minutes." Joachim Hiller of Ox-Fanzine noted that they were "a bit punky, a bit noisy, but they can't hide the fact that they're just another boring band from the island."

Other reviewers commented on it in the context of Ash's influences. Scott Hefflon of Lollipop Magazine wrote: "Starting with a pleasant pop/punk formula similar to the Buzzcocks and adding a flavoring of Dino Jr-esque guitar noise, Ireland’s Ash are a band on the move." CMJ New Music Report Cherly Botchick wrote that despite the band's geographical origins, Trailer "couldn't be more steeped in delightfully familiar American rock traditions. She added that they created an album "packed with enough hooks and melodies to make" their US contemporaries "green with envy." Molanphy said "for all the (not unfounded) comparisons Ash has drawn to the Buzzcocks, its better numbers ... display a formidable talent for weaving hummable tunes and picaresque lyrics in the sonic assault." Fay felt that the references to other bands were a "little overly deferential" and said that the lyrics were "too often trite and predictable".

Ash

  • Mark Hamilton – bass
  • Tim Wheeler – guitar, vocals
  • Rick McMurray – drums

Production and artwork

  • "Oscar Wilde" – dialogue
  • "Patrick the Brewer" – dialogue
  • Ade Britteon – sleeve art
  • Ash – sleeve art
  • Smike – photography
  • Mark Waterman – producer
  • Tim Russell – mixing <small>(tracks 1 and 3–5)</small>

References

Citations

Sources

<!-- This is a licensed stream for the album, which is allowed under Wikipedia polices -->

  • Trailer at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)