Travis
The Man Who (1999)

review by: Michael Walls
Date: 12/8/00

These guys must hate Radiohead and Oasis. You can't pick up an article or review about these guys without a comparison to Radiohead, and sometimes Oasis. And I apologize in advance, because I will also use the name Radiohead way too much in this review. Only, I'm going to try and explain why Travis isn't like Radiohead. And why it's okay to enjoy them.

It might have started out as an honor to be referred to as a Radiohead-esque band. But what probably happened was, people were buying Travis CDs under the guise of "well, I love Radiohead, so I'll probably love this!" I certainly did.

I can see the comparison. Very similar vocals between Thom York of Radiohead and Fran Healy of Travis. Similar musical undertones and production, probably due to the fact they use the same producer. But beyond that, the comparisons stop.

Travis has a tranquil, melodic sound and somber lyrical attitude. Kind of like those brief moments within Radiohead's "OK Computer", where you lift up your head, perk up your ears, turn up the volume a bit and smile. But, whereas with "OK Computer", that moment disappears to be replaced with some unexpected, off-kilter, bridge that causes you to blink awake and turn the volume back down. (Eventually, like Pavlov's dog, you learned where those spots occurred and were ready.) But with Travis, that moment never comes. It just continues it's tranquility. Not a bad thing. Just not Radiohead-esque.

And that's were the problem is. If you are expecting Radiohead, you're going to be disappointed. But if you go in, like anything in life, without expectations, then you have nothing to be disappointed about. If it sucks, it sucks on its own merits.

This doesn't suck. I was fortunate enough to find a couple of hooks to continue listening, until I realized, "hey, this is pretty good."

There really aren't any songs on this CD that you would skip through. It's a start to finish enjoyable album. But if you're looking to sample this CD, go to CDNow.com and listen to the samples of "As You Are" (track 3), "Driftwood" (track 4), and "Why does it always rain on me?" (track 7). One of the best songs on the CD is a hidden track at the end, which I don't know what it's called.

Travis is not as experimental and gripping as Radiohead, but they are far more daring and far more talented then Oasis.