Angel Interceptor

"Angel Interceptor" is a song by Ash, released as the third single from their album 1977 on 9 October 1995. It was released as a single CD, a 7" vinyl, and as a cassette.

"Angel Interceptor" was quite successful for Ash, giving them their second Top 20 hit, reaching number 14 in the UK singles chart. It can also be found on Ash's greatest hits collection, "Intergalactic Sonic 7″s", and a live version of the song can be found on the "Tokyo Blitz" DVD.

This song is meant to be one of the reasons Ash believed they needed a fourth, female member. Originally, the track's high-pitched backing vocals were performed by drummer Rick McMurray, but the band were unsatisfied with them.

The B-side, "5am Eternal" is thought to be one of Ash's stranger ones. It starts with wind-up toy noises, and consists of lyrics, with blurry vocals, centred around strange sound effects, with synth effects as well.

"Gimme Some Truth" is a cover of the electro-pop version of the John Lennon song from his "Imagine" album, originally performed by John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band.

This single became Ash's second "NME Single of the Week".

The Japanese version of the single contained 5 B-sides: "Girl From Mars" and "Cantina Band" from the "Girl From Mars" single, "Kung Fu" and "Luther Ingo's Star Cruiser" from the "Kung Fu" single, and "Gimme Some Truth" from the "Angel Interceptor" single. The Japanese release also came with picture sleeves, lyrics and an obi-strip.

The video for the song was directed by Ash themselves, and put a high level of input into the video. It mainly consists of them playing in a yellow room, and occasionally messing about with stuff in the room. References to angels and rockets are occasionally made, such as a silhouette of an angel on a book at the start, and the fact Tim reads a book on astrophysics.

The title of the song is a reference to fictional aircraft featured in the 1960s sci-fi series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons.