Travis formed in Glasgow in the early nineties. For a time they were one of the biggest bands in the UK headlining the Glastonbury festival in 2000 on the back of the multi million selling ‘The Man Who’. Their melodic and at times introspective sound was subtler than many of the Britpop groups that preceded them paving the way for the likes of Coldplay.
Here are 5 'Essentials' from one of the countries most under appreciated bands…
All I Want To Do Is Rock - It was a demo of this song that secured Travis a record deal. Fittingly it became the first single and opening track on their debut album, ‘Good Feeling’. On the track, Fran Healy’s strained vocal and Andy Dunlop’s guitar hero antics play out on top of the ‘tick tock’ of the rhythm section to scintillating effect. The album brought the band high profile plaudits including a support slot with Oasis on their 1997 UK tour. A live version of this song featuring Noel Gallagher can even be found as the b-side to ‘More than Us’. The single is also noteworthy for inclusion of the fan favourite acoustic b-side ’20’.
Why Does It Always Rain On Me? - This anthemic singalong is probably the bands best known song and is a regular set closer to this day. The third single taken from ‘The Man Who’ provided the band with their first top 10 hit in 1999. ‘Village Man’ is also a brilliant b-side that could have been a single but more on that in a later blog!
Flowers In The Window - Third single from third album ‘The Invisible Band’, ‘Flowers on the Window’ showcases Healy’s ‘knack’ for a good pop song. His best melodies are familiar upon first listen and as demonstrated here, often effortlessly pretty.
Re-Offender - Drummer Neil Primrose had broken his neck in 2002 almost ending the band. Despite this they returned with the bleaker and underrated fourth outing ’12 Memories’ in 2003. ‘Re-Offender’ was the excellent first single and must be one of the few top 10s in history to have domestic abuse as subject matter.
Everything At Once - Dougie Payne penned lead single from 2016s 'Everything at Once’. It contains some familiar Travis touchstones in the form a euphoric singalong chorus and brilliant accompanying video (you really should watch it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-2fYPEz2lo). The frenetic electro tinged verse is also proof that the band continue to move their sound forward.
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