Travis - The Boy With No Name

It's no surprise that Travis's new album's title bears some strange resemblance to their earlier The Man Who, the 1999 album that catapulted them to fame.

A quick summary: Travis is a Scottish alternative rock band that croons out slow melodic tunes. Their 1997 album Good Feeling didn't make it into the mainstream radar, but producer Nigel Godrich (of Radiohead fame) took over the helm and Travis released The Man Who, which is undoubtedly a classic. The Invisible Band followed, with a more laid-back, dreamy slant.

Subsequently, Travis came back to life with 12 Memories, which was, in honesty, a flop. You'll remember it for the single Re-offender, which was totally atypical of Travis. And well. There weren't any other remarkable singles. Was it because Nigel Godrich wasn't on the team anymore?

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And now Nigel Godrich's back again. The old Travis is back again, with an audible new determination and concentration.

The album starts off with 3 Times and You Lose, a track that's reminiscent of of the Travis that we'd liked in the The Man Who era.

Selfish Jean's a cheeky song that throws the album into a new, cheery mood with a sweet, honest vocal melody that lets Fran Healy's vocal prowess shine.

Closer's the single that's currently on the UK charts, doing quite well. A simple love song, while Big Chair exudes an obvious Radiohead-like quality.

Hey, you know what, I'm reviewing every song in sequential order in detail as though everyone of them are all single material. Well, it's true. Guess I'd stop gushing about every track on the album, because you just gotta hear every one of them. They all stand up on their own.

Who can possibly dislike the catchy Battleships or One Night, or even their hidden track?

They're all lovely. If you didn't already know Travis, you'd be hard pressed to determine if the many hits are part of a greatest hits compilation, or just a really really good album.