Travis - Ode to J Smith '2008

Tracks list

Tracklist:

[3:47] 01. Travis - Chinese Blues
[3:09] 02. Travis - J. Smith
[2:24] 03. Travis - Something Anything
[2:39] 04. Travis - Long Way Down
[3:11] 05. Travis - Broken Mirror
[4:11] 06. Travis - Last Words
[4:00] 07. Travis - Quite Free
[3:12] 08. Travis - Get Up
[3:24] 09. Travis - Friends
[3:46] 10. Travis - Song To Self
[3:19] 11. Travis - Before You Were Young
[4:23] 12. Travis - Sarah

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ABOUT THE ALBUM
1 disc(s) - 12 track(s)
Total length: 00:41:19
Main artist: Travis
Composer: Various Composers
Label: [PIAS] Cooperative
Genre: Pop/Rock, Rock Alternative & Indie
(c) 2008 V2 Cooperative Music

Considering that Travis has spent the years since 1999s The Man Who settling
into a quiet, unperturbed groove, it comes as a bit of a relief to hear Travis
open Ode to J. Smith with a rush of guitars on Chinese Blues. For some bands,
this surge of six strings may seem reserved but for Travis its positively rude,
a welcome attempt to reconnect to their Brit-pop roots, when they were seen as
heirs to Oasis lad-friendly rock. As it turns out, Travis spent more time
floating in Radioheads wake -- with their innate politeness at times turning
them into Coldplays cousins -- and they dont escape that spacy, tasteful vibe on
Ode to J. Smith, spending as much time ruminating as rocking. Nevertheless, the
uptick in guitars gives Travis some definition -- more along the lines of extra
texture than muscle -- and this gives the album some added color, especially
when compared to its gentle, sepia-toned predecessor The Boy with No Name, which
was otherwise appealing. Ode isnt quite as strong song-wise as The Boy but it
makes up for the difference with its deepened palette -- again, this palette may
not be as rich as some of their peers, but compared to Travis other work of the
past decade, this is richer and livelier as sheer sonics go. Now if they could
find a way to marry this feel to the songcraft of The Boy with No Name, theyd
wind up with an album that fulfilled the promise of both Good Feeling and The
Man Who.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo


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