1977 – Ash
If aliens came to earth and asked us to describe what British music was like in 1996, we’d just stick on Ash’s debut album 1977 and be done with it. The obvious punk rock influences on the album were muted by bouncy soft rock, complimenting the recent pop-punk explosion that had taken over the world just a couple of years beforehand, including washing up on the shores of the UK and Ireland. Not only that, but Ash’s pop-rock sound reflects the Brit-pop boom that was flooding the UK at the time and, while they never quite fitted into the genre whole-heartedly, Ash were definitely part of the country’s ‘90s musical pop culture right from their very first record.
