Travis' second album, The Man Who, is an immaculately
crafted piece of mopey, codeine-slowed jangle that was purchased by 97 percent
of the Scottish population upon its release. Subsequent albums yielded a lower
balance of good ballads to self-pitying dreck, but until now, Travis has never
gone back to the "All I Want To Do Is Rock" virus that unwisely kicked off its
career in Britpop's wake. Ode To J. Smith shoots for "edgy" and "rocking," but winds
up sounding like latter-day Oasis. Lead singer and songwriter Fran Healy has
always had a chip on his shoulder about the perception that Travis somehow
isn't cool, but there's no solution to that problem in typically watery lyrics
to songs whose titles ("Friends," "Broken Mirror") tell the whole story. The
lyrics to "Long Way Down"—"Mama… I'm too young to die!"—should
theoretically get the band a little closer to Queen, but no such luck. The
atmospheric slow-burner "Broken Mirror" fares only slightly better; it's all
prolonged guitar tones and light hi-hat tapping. Blissfully short at 37
minutes, Ode To J. Smith is the sound of a band too boxed-in to do the hooky
melancholy it used to do so well, but too neutered to really rock out.