Travis
The Invisible Band
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"The love you bring / Won’t mean a thing / Unless you sing / Sing sing sing."

So goes the chorus to "Sing," the opening track and first single from Travis' third full-length release, The Invisible Band. Such a simple and nice sentiment will certainly lead many cynics to dismiss this as bland and harmless and boring. However, I will be leveling no such criticism because The Invisible Band is the best album I have heard this year.

Travis' second album, The Man Who, had everybody buzzing with "the next Radiohead" talk, and it went on to sell millions of copies worldwide as a result. I did not fall for the hype though; I found The Man Who (and their first album Good Feeling, for that matter) to be a very clumsy and whiny album, as the four Scotsmen tried their best to rock-out in that all-too-popular The Bends-style. I slammed Travis as hugely overrated, and my opinion about The Man Who is no different today. Nonetheless, there are two tracks on The Man Who that really stand out: the lovely neo-folk tunes "Driftwood" and "Last Laugh of the Laughter." These two songs showcase Fran Healey's rich vocals and the talent of fellow bandmates Andy Dunlop, Dougie Payne, and Neil Primrose much better than irritating whine-fests like "Why does it always rain on me?"

The Invisible Band took me by complete surprise because I had very low expectations for it. The crazy thing is that almost every track is styled like "Driftwood" and "Last Laugh of the Laughter," only better. Aside from the dragging "Dear Diary" and uneventful "Last Train," The Invisible Band holds up as a gorgeously tuneful orchestral folk album. "Sing" is a definite contender for single of the year, but this album is full of potential hits, which is definitely not a bad thing. Healey's sentiments may be basic and corny to some, but I could not help but fall in love with his lyrics. Considering the current state of stale popular music and overly ambitious prog rockers, it is incredibly refreshing to hear such melodic and uplifting songs, topped off with wide-eyed, straight-to-the-point lyrical observations like: "We all live under the same sky / We all will live / We all will die / There is no right / There is no wrong / The circle only has one side" (from "Side").

Recorded under the sun of Los Angeles, The Invisible Band shares more of an affinity musically with vintage orchestral folk rock like Nick Drake and Love and current bands like Belle and Sebastian and Ladybug Transistor than new British rock. The fresh arrangements grip the listener while Healey's ruminations run the gamut from encouraging to melancholy to glorious to confused and beyond. One can tell that Healey has certainly been thoughtful in laying down what is on his mind, and the music reflects that, especially with the appropriately varied instrumentation that includes banjo, string sections, and all kinds of subtle keyboard effects that flow along wonderfully.

With The Invisible Band, Travis fully develop their own unique style of 21st Century folk rock; it is the kind of record to play really loud with every window open in your house on a breezy summer afternoon. Free of their earlier influences,Travis have made an album that makes no demands of its listener; it exists simply to be enjoyed, which is I'm pretty sure why most people listen to music in the first place. Take my word for it: as of the year 2001, Travis are a legitimately important and engaging band and well worth anyone's time. Let them "Sing" for you this summer. (Also of note, initial U.S. copies of The Invisible Band include two great bonus tracks in which Healey hands the lead vocals over to his mates).

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