Ashes Of American Flags

They used to sound too much like Nirvana.
Britpop has that thing, they only lose for the Japanese when it comes to absortion of American musical styles. Of course they hardly admit it, more for the common hatred of the country than its artists.
But this album (Free All Angels) has so much personality.
In "Burn Baby Burn" there's still something suggesting the influence, but more like a happy as hell Kurt - that has to be original, right? Songs like "Nicole" and "World Domination" try to ressucitate the Cobain spirit in a new body, that now wears a smile.
"Candy" uses a sampler from Burt Bacharach's "Make It Easy on Yourself," and like the track "Sometimes," is a shock to those of us who grew accostumed to Ash's angry, homogenous previous work. Radio pop indeed, lovely and cute, but very catchy and cleverly melodic.
There's a Weezer haze sorrounding the whole disc, and I think I've seen Rivers Cuomo's ghost materialize himself more than once, in songs like "Cherry Bomb," giving the impression they only switched references.
The heavy scent of bubblegum can make you a little sick at times, also.
But there's more than that. Ash has finally achieved enough personality to sound more like Ash than anyone else.