Travis

POP

The scholarly quest for songcraft for songcraft’s sake is now the only real endeavour for Travis these days, which is preferable of course to trying to regain former glories that, as their contemporaries Oasis will never tell you, are unattainable.

Their ability to harness a beguiling melody or a bittersweet chord construction are considerable, and when they nail the killer hook - like on ‘Big Chair’ or ‘Colder’ - they are truly unbeatable, but for parts of this album their particular brand of sweetness is too saccharine. Flashes of genius suggest there’s still something there but they seem a little too polite for their own good.