I was a massive Travis fan round about 1999 when 'Writing To Reach You' came out from their The Man Who album. I remember being recommended it and rushing to the shops after school to pick it up on tape! After that I went through a massive Travis obsession, collecting the promotional postcards that accompanied each single and seeing them live in 2002.
I bought their first album Good Feeling shortly after buying The Man Who. I remember thinking that it sounded pretty different to the Travis I was used to, but I liked it (apart from the rather whining 'All I Want To Do Is Rock'). After The Man Who, Travis brought out The Invisible Band, which I have to say just wasn't as good, and then I kind of lost interest when 12 Memories hit the shops. I've never been much of a follower of the charts, so it didn't bother me that they weren't as popular as they used to be, or that they weren't singing their usual crowd pleasing anthems, but they just didn't seem to have the sparkle they used to have.
Since 1999 I've found myself increasingly drawn to Good Feeling. It's more like listening to a pub band than a festival/stadium band. It's rough and excitable and is genuinely fun to listen to, as well as being musically quite good too. There are brilliant key changes and quirky phrasings and breaks. So when Ode To J. Smith came out
I wasn't initially that bothered - in fact it barely registered on my new music radar. But then it started receiving rave reviews from newspapers that had been pretty nonplussed by their previous releases.
I decided that I'd have to give this album a listen, and after hearing a couple of tracks and realising it sounded more like Good Feeling than anything they'd released previously I realised it was high time I invested in it.
However, before I got a chance to do this, the annual V Festival came around at Highland Park in Chelmsford. I love the V fest and there are few I've missed since 2001. The line up in 2008 was actually pretty good as well and Travis were playing one of the smaller stages late one afternoon. We got there pretty early and managed to get a place on the front bar. I hadn't seen Travis live since 2002 and I was skeptical about whether the set was going to be full of The Man Who and some mediocre recent tracks. But much to my surprise their set consisted of pretty much 70% new material and I loved it! Some tracks are slow burners and even when you love a band it can take a few listens before you realise just how good a song is, but this stuff is instantly enjoyable. I genuinely knew none of the material before the gig and found myself singing along to the catchy choruses and getting swept up in the band's excitement. I was even lucky enough to see them perform some stuff off Good Feeling, complete with guitar solos given from half way up the scaffolding of the small tent we were in.
Travis back on form
A couple of months after the festival I decided to purchase Ode To J. Smith. To be honest it's one of those albums where no one track stands out as being spectacular, but at the same time I like everything on it. The guitars are strong and played with confidence and Fran's voice is just as beautiful as ever.
In a way this album sounds like a move towards the later music of The Manic Street Preachers. It's guitar led and glued together with some perfect vocals. If I had to choose one song that I particularly liked then I would choose the mellow 'Friends', but I just love the energy in the whole album. Even 'Friends' has a pulsating beat that merges in and out of the song. The opening track 'Chinese Blues' is also brilliant as it incorporates a great piano opening with very rocky guitars. This is pub rock with sophistication.
I've read reviews that link this album to Oasis and suggest a heavy influence from their new stuff, but to be honest this has always been Travis' sound, they just seem to care a bit less about being quite so serious now.
The album art on the album is a bit retro - it's a giant eye on a black background with the words in white text above and below it. Inside the cover sleeve the design is even simpler. The song words are printed on plain coloured backgrounds and the centre spread features a black and white photo of the band looking as though they are all screaming or shouting. It feels like the kind of design that might have appeared on a record sleeve in the late 70s, but I kind of like it for that. I'm all for complicated music and beautifully constructed album art, but sometimes that just doesn't suit the band, and the beauty in this album is in the sound and the enjoyment you'll get out of it.
I can see myself playing this album at parties and on weekend evenings in with a beer. It doesn't take a lot of concentration, but that doesn't mean it isn't clever music. This is a brilliant album for this year when the news is perpetually about financial doom and gloom - this will push a little 90s nostalgia summer sun into your wintery evenings and hopefully will put a smile on your face. This is fantastic stuff and I hope there is more to come!
I picked up my copy of Ode To J. Smith in the Zavvi clearout for about £11 a while ago, but Amazon is selling it for about £8 now, which isn't too expensive for a recent album. It's only eleven tracks long, but it feels longer (in a good way) and I can see me listening to it over and over - especially now I've loaded it on to my ITunes.
Thanks for reading and check out the photos!
İtac20
Pictures of Ode To J. Smith - Travis
Album cover
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