*** Ash

NU-CLEAR SOUNDS

(DreamWorks)

There are few pop clichés more tired or self-indulgent than the rock star who writes a song about the pitfalls of fame and the grind of the road. Bob Seger, Bon Jovi, and Counting Crows are three fame-flogging culprits who've shared their pain with us, and now the Irish outfit Ash have weighed in with not one but two tales of tour-related woe. What's fairly amazing, given the general cringe-worthiness of the subject, is that these tracks are among the best on a disc that, overall, is a strong follow-up to the gleaming guitar glam of '96's 1977.

Credit singer/songwriter/guitarist Tim Wheeler for having the good sense to embrace the chaos swirling like a Swervedriver around him ("Jesus Says") and a light enough touch to keep his hangover-induced melancholia ("Low Ebb") from becoming mawkish. Sounds sags a bit in the middle with a couple of lame attempts at warmed-over skate grunge and electronica (the scratch-and-beat throwaway "Numbskull"; the shopworn Crystal Methodology of "Death Trip 21"). The band fare far better when they stick to sharp, hook-heavy rockers like "A Life Less Ordinary" (originally written for the film of the same name) and soft-spoken ballads about missing the country life ("Folk Song").

-- Jonathan Perry