Travis — Ode To J. Smith

Ode To J. Smith features the most electric guitar on a Travis album since... probably 1999. Despite the band's attempts to turn up the good and turn down the suck, Ode To J. Smith is largely quite boring and the suck is still very much present. This time around, instead of sounding like a quieter, wimpier version of Coldplay (yes, it's possible), Travis try to ape U2. The atmospheric, tremoloed guitar on closer "Before You Were Young" is straight out of The Edge's playbook, yet it's a poor imitation and, like most of the songs on this album, it's ruined by Fran Healy's voice. Not even the presence of a film score-inspired choir on "J. Smith" can make the track sound interesting. Travis try to stand out, but, despite their best efforts, they'll always be a band that are just incomprehensibly there.

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