The Boy With No Name

by

Travis

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After the dark, protest-song side trip that was 12 Memories, Travis have returned to what they do best (and did FIRST, long before Coldplay, Starsailor, or any other). This album sits very nicely next to The Man Who and The Invisible Band, and while it doesn't reach the brilliance of the former, it most certainly is equal to or better than the latter. There are bittersweet lyrics, happy jangly guitars, and even some violin here and there in the songs, and the textures work very well. These guys are decent musicians.

As in albums past, Fran's lyrics remain in "forced rhyme" mode, which can occasionally grate on the ears, and sometimes just plain don't make sense ("I wake up to find you lying awake with your hands in your head..." Eww!), but most of the time they work. I also like some of more experimental sounds Travis pursues (experimental for Travis, anyway), especially the bass-driven song, Big Chair. Unfortunately, this album also contains what is arguably the WORST Travis song ever, New Amsterdam. There is a hidden song called Sailing that makes up for this misstep, however.

I find Travis to be a band that, like CAKE or some others bands, sounds best when they stick to their time-tested formula. Some bands need to rework their sounds from album to album to keep it interesting for themselves and others (Radiohead, to name one), but Travis has a pop-perfect sound that is utterly timeless. Why mess with it?

i remember touring in england when i saw a TV spot for this new record form travis called "the man who"...the next day i went to the virgin magastore in picadilly circus to buy it, but it was the equivalent of about 30 bucks US. i declined purchase thinking i would pick it up in the states when i got home for about half that. not realizing it was in import-only, i spent the next year trying to but it online or illegally download songs from the internet. i finally got it when it was officially released in the states and thought it was just majestic. lush english soundscapes, U2esque guitarwork, and fran's unique almost operatic voice; the album was strong from start to finish and really (to me) painted a landscape of what scotland and england actually felt like in the late 90's.

"the invisible band" came next, and this is where i felt travis started to really get cheesy. granted, they're not that impressive lyrically to begin with, but i can accept a semi-sappy love song if it's packaged in a way that travis was genius at to begin with. (btw, "good feeling" was a great freshman effort for a young UK band. nothing really unique, but showed some promise. i never listen to this record now.) but with "sing" i wanted to distance. the saving grace of this record was in the latter part. it got really dark and really smart with the almost-trilogy of "last train", "afterglow", and "indefinitely". it was a perfect balance of the 3 minute simple britpop song and foreshadowing of something a bit more progressive. to me it saved the record. they should have stopped there.

it was gonna take me being blown away by travis to really consider them one of my favorite bands again with their next release. i just couldn't get my head around "12 memories". maybe i had outgrown them. but i think it was equally as phony and trite lyically (if not more) than anything on "invisible". i felt is was overly ambitious and lacked real melody and catchiness. it didn't take long for me to dismiss this album as a whole.

so i was really interested to see what they were going to do with 3 years off. i didn't even realize they were coming up with a new record until a couple of weeks beforehand, as they were so far off my radar screen. "the boy with no name" arrived last week and i've listened to it about four times. it seems they are back with some of the signature soundscapes that made them unique on the "man who" and alot of the melodies are really catchy. i like the chick background singers on a couple of the tracks. "selfish jean" has that stupid tired ragtime beat that has been rammed down throats by the likes of the strokes, jet, petty, iggy pop, you name it...could have done without that. eye's wide open falls a bit flat as an experiment as well. but the rest of the record seems like vintage travis. the lyrics this time around? after first listen, i told my buddy: "sounds like fran is really in love." they are very sappy. but that's cool. the single "closer" is about as light-love-rock as it gets, but since when has travis been known for their edge in the studio? this album is a wonderful step in the right direction. my advice to them would be this: keep it simple and dance with the one that brought you. it's when you're at your best.

i just don't think they are talented enough to try and reinvent themselves, and i think they might have realized that on this album.