Travis — The Invisible Band

You'd have to be one to believe in miracles to expect the sensitive, yet scrappy lads that make up Travis to create a work that could follow up the charismatic The Man Who. The band come very close with The Invisible Band, but miracles are so hard to come by. Fran Healy and the boys knit up 12 cozy tracks that are much quieter and subtler in nature than their earlier material.

There's not a lot of the raucousness that you might expect from the Scotsmen, but thankfully that lost raucousness has been translated into a more  than a few moments of the quiet greatness the band is also known for, like the buoyant "Side" and the dark, gun-toting madness of "The Last Train," but it's the shimmering "Pipe Dreams," with its haunting chorus that takes the cake on this one.

The Invisible Band shows Healy developing into one hell of a songwriter. It may take a while to get used to because of its subdued nature, but after repeated listenings this record stands on its own as being a solid effort, even though you wish they would let loose with a stomper. Lyrically Healy still drums up well thought-out lyrics like those found on "Indefinitely" and "The Cage" that show Fran's ability to pull at heartstrings is still intact even though its volume has been turned down a bit.