Ode To J. Smith
Once considered the melodic understudy for Radiohead as that band ventured into the experimental ether, Travis remain dedicated to the straight-forward melodic Brit-Pop that Radiohead have forever foregone. This modesty means a focus on the basics: tight guitar chops, amiable harmonies, earnest, swooning melodies, and lots of ethereal textures just underneath the sound to massage the stereo speakers. The band spent five weeks writing the album and two recording it, so the writing is carefully considered while the performances are caught in action. This keeps a notable enthusiasm coursing through the guitar lines that slash (“J. Smith”) and twist (“Something Anything”) and provide singer Fran Healy with his toughest backing support to date. “Chinese Blues” opens as a sober meditation reminiscent of New Zealand’s Chills but it serves primarily as a delicate intro for the mayhem ahead. “Broken Mirror” adds squalls of feedback to its slowly grifting beat that most closely resembles the Travis of old, while “Last Words” heads for the country with mandolin and banjo in tow.
After the comeback-via-throwback of The Boy With No Name, Travis go back even further into their history with its quick follow-up-- namely, to the first song on their first record: "All I Wanna Do Is Rock".
Travis' second album, The Man Who, is an immaculately crafted piece of mopey, codeine-slowed jangle that was purchased by 97 percent of the Scottish population upon its release. Subsequent albums yielded a lower balance of good ballads to self-pitying dreck, but until now, Travis has never gone back to the "All I Want…
Album number six from Travis - recorded in just two weeks, the band have declared this their ''loudest and edgiest yet''. Were they ever edgy to begin with? Or that loud for that matter?
Travis frontman Fran Healy has said that the band’s latest release is a concept album about a not very pleasant man named J. Smith. That may be true
<p>This back-to-basics effort turns up the guitars as high as their 1996 debut. writes <strong>Dave Simpson</strong></p>