Driftwood (Travis) (LP 4724 - 4725)

Travis  The Man Who (CD, Independiente Records, 1999) ***** 

Travis  The Boy With No Name (CD, Independiente Records, 2007) *** 

Genre: Pop 

Places I remember: Music shop in St Lukes, The Warehouse.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Why Does It Always Rain On Me?

Gear costume: Turn, Writing to Reach You

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8

Active compensatory factors: Travis are a band from Scotland composed of Fran Healy (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Dougie Payne (bass guitar), Andy Dunlop (lead guitar, banjo) and Neil Primrose (drums).

Most people were alerted to the band's presence by the single hit, Why Does It Always Rain On Me? I was no exception. It's a wonderful song and as it turns out, it was one of many wonderful songs on their second album, The Man Who (daft title), like Writing to Reach You, Driftwood and Turn. 

Fran Healy sells these often moody, melancholy songs in a thoroughly convincing way throughout. So much so that I bought other Travis albums as a consequence, only to be disappointed by them. Seems like they peaked on that second effort.

I have continued to hang on to their fifth album, The Boy With No Name, even though it's not as strong as The Man Who. It's a much more indie rock sound, with eclectic songs which is fine, but I prefer the softer sounds of The Man Who.

Where do they all belong? The Travis singles from The Man Who period are fantastic. I've written about them previously and you can find them here and here.