Web Editor, ZOO (www.zooweekly.co.uk). And they changed my photo. Splendid.
Web Editor, ZOO (www.zooweekly.co.uk). And they changed my photo. Splendid.
Member since:04.12.2000
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Sometime in 1996 I was watching Jools Holland on BBC2 and a band came on who looked a little shabby round the edges, but sounded great. The lead singer was a shy, curly haired, baby faced guy who didn’t like looking at the camera; the bass player looked as camp as a row of tents; and the drummer looked, quite simply, like Wolf from Gladiators. They played a song called ‘Good Feeling’ and they went by the name of Travis, and although I didn’t hear of them again for a while, I kept them in the back of my mind.
Five years on, to say Travis have had a bit of an effect on my life is like saying Thom Yorke is a little bit pretentious. Over the past few years being a Travis fan has led directly to two trips to Scotland, some very valuable friendships, almost a dozen top nights out at gigs, a Ligger of the Week photo with Fran Healy in Melody Maker, a failed long-term relationship, a couple of whirlwind romances, some embarrassing karaoke, and more than one mad guitar singalong in my sitting room. So you can imagine the mixture of apprehension and excitement when the new album dropped on my desk at work last week; time for a few more surprises, I thought.
And the greatest surprise? Well, the album is a disappointment. I’ve waited and waited and waited for it to grow on me, and it just hasn’t. I’ve played it endless times at work and people just aren’t impressed. Normally I would sit here and write a short review, but as this is a pretty major release (and, far as I know, a Ciao exclusive), I thought I’d take you through it track by track. Here goes…
1. SING
The single and the one you’ll know by now. It’s a catchy enough song, but it does sound a bit too
similar to ‘Writing To Reach You’ – the opener on the last album – for comfort. Surely a bad move to start two albums on the same chord? Lyrically, it’s also a bit cheeky to release a song with the lyrics ‘Sing sing sing sing sing’ when you’ve also released one that goes ‘Turn turn turn turn turn.’ Nonetheless, a decent enough, catchy song.
Marks out of ten: 7
2. DEAR DIARY
Very slow, quiet song, all about how Fran has written a diary for the last ten years. It’s nice enough, but for a second track on the album doesn’t really inspire too much confidence that this is going to be a record to blow you away. On the upper side of mediocrity.
Out of ten: 6
3. SIDE
Phenomenal. The next single – mark my words – and lyrically the best song Fran has written yet. Ever. A philosophical number, slightly darker than the acoustic niceness of the rest of the album, it might just be Travis’s first ever number one. I’ve included the lyrics at the end of this review just to show you how good it is.
Out of ten: 10
4. PIPE DREAMS
A likely choice for a future single, but once again it never really threatens to be described as anything other than ‘nice’. It is catchy, but in a rather too repetitive way. “I’d pray to god if there was heaven – but heaven seems so very far from here’ – the lyrics certainly aren’t bad, but it’s another song which only manages to sit on the boundary between average and good.
Out of ten: 7
5. FLOWERS IN THE WINDOW
The most delayed song ever. Travis have been playing this as part of live sets on and off for four years, and rerecorded it five times for ‘The Man Who’ before dropping it altogether. It’s a stunningly beautiful song, but immensely guilty of overproduction – and the banjo doesn’t really fit. That said, you can’t keep a good song down, even if it’s not quite the perfect track it once was.
Out of ten: 9
THE CAGE
A sublime little track dedicated by Fran to Sinjun from Remy Zero. “You broke the bread, you drank the wine, your lip was bleeding but it was fine” is one of the cutest lyrics on the album. The best of all the slow songs on the LP.
Out of ten: 8
SAFE
Very, very, very average. Previewed at Glasto last year, it sounded dull then and hasn’t changed a great deal since. Fran says it’s the oldest Travis song and while the lyrics are sweet, at lacks any sort of kick to get it going.
Out of ten: 5
FOLLOW THE LIGHT
Another catchy number, it does’t quite fit in to the usual Travis format of verse-chorus-verse-chorus and sounds all the better for it. A chilled out, summer song that sounds decent; apart from the fact that the rest of the album is downhill from here…
Out of ten: 7
LAST TRAIN
The darkest song that Fran Healy has ever written, which has got the critics writing about it; but don’t take that to mean it’s anything special. It’s quite nasty words wise, which does suit the song well, but the acoustic monotony contained within it takes much of that charm away. The middle eight that ends the song, however, just about redeems it.
Out of ten: 6
AFTERGLOW
Drab. Borning. Bland. If you like Coldplay, you’ll probably love it.
Out of ten: 3
INDEFINITELY
A song about life going by, it contains the great line, “Time exists but just on your wrists when you’re falling.” What a shame that one line can’t save a whole song. Once again, it goes nowhere, and would be better suited to Tesco or Sainsbury’s then your home stereo.
Out of ten: 4
THE HUMPTY DUMPTY LOVE SONG
Written while the band were filming the video to ‘Coming Around’, in which Fran had to be an egg version of Humpty Dumpty and fall off a wall. It has an endearing nursery rhyme-like quality to it, but if you compare it to the closers of the first two albums – ‘Funny Thing’ on the first, ‘Slide Show’ on the second – then there really are very few similarities quality wise.
Out of ten: 7
Ok, I know what you’re thinking: an album where the average mark is seven out of ten can’t be all that bad. And to a certain extent, you are right. The problem is, however, that Travis’s first two albums were so good, this just doesn’t make the mark. Ask any long-term Travis fan what their favourite album is and they’ll say ‘Good Feeling’: it was rocky, punchy, you could get pissed and mosh to it. ‘The Man Who’ was a good album too; it was far more mellow, but still had the hooks which grabbed your heart and pulled you in.
Travis’s third album just doesn’t do that. It sounds overproduced (a common problem with Travis, who have always sounded better live and raw than on record), and most importantly of all, it just doesn’t have the same quality of songs. ‘Side’ is amazing, ‘Flowers In The Window’ and ‘The Cage’ are good, but it lacks elsewhere. There’s nothing as effortlessly beautiful as ‘Funny Thing’ or ‘Last Laugh Of The Laughter’, nothing as jaunty as ‘Tied To The 90s’ or ‘U16 Girls’, nothing as rocking as ‘Village Man’, nothing as catchy as ‘Why Does It Always Rain On Me’ (apart from ‘Side’), nothing as sheer-damn-astonishingly-good as ‘Turn’. Maybe I’m being harsh by making comparisons to the past rather than looking to the future, but the sad truth is that this is an average record – and I say that as one of the most devoted Travis fans you could meet. Travis are a lovely bunch of guys and deserve every success, and this will sell by the bucketload whatever I say. Sadly, the harsh truth is that The Invisible Band have made a very transparent album.
‘The Invisible Band’ comes out next Monday, 11th June.
Finally, as promised, the lyrics to ‘Side’. Enjoy!
Oh I believe there's someone watching over you They're watching every single thing you say And when you die they'll sit you down and take you through You'll realise one day how
(BRIDGE) The grass is always greener on the other side Neighbour's got a new car that you wanna drive When time is running out you wanna stay alive
(CHORUS) We all live under the same sky We all will live we all will die There is no wrong there is no right The circle only has one side
Side Side Side
We all try hard to live our lives in harmony For fear of falling swiftly overboard But life is both a major and a minor key Just open up the chord ahhhhhh
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Excellent opinion, you're right it doesn't have the spark of Good Feeling and Man Who. Bought it anyway! I think The Humpty Dumpty Love Song is one of the better tracks but I agree with everything else.
Well done,
Shane
stuartcorey 05.09.2001 01:09
Unfortunately I agree with you. This isn't as good as the others, although it has grown on me a lot. I think that 'Afterglow' is better than 'Indefinitely'.
The Invisible Bandmarks no major change in direction for Travis but this is no bad thing. ... more
That Travis are the most simplistic of the post-Radiohead groups may not sound like the heartiest of compliments but it undoubtedly accounts for their massive app...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
The Invisible Band marks no major change in direction for Travis but this is no bad thing. ... more
That Travis are the most simplistic of the post-Radiohead groups may not sound like the heartiest of compliments but it undoubtedly accounts for their massive ap...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Advantages: Easy to listen to, excellent lyrics, good musical accompaniment, great album to work to Disadvantages: None really, apart from the fact that there were only 12 tracks
Advantages: Great sound of and tunes written by Fran Healy. Includes the excellent releases such as 'Turn,' Writing to Reach You,' and 'Why Does It Always Rain on Me?' Disadvantages: ?
Jun 8th, 2001
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