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Travis looks back, the Autumns channel desperation, Sam Roberts Band rocks out, and Umphrey’s McGee jumbles genres

Travis
Singles (Epic/Independiente)

Because of their colossal tours with Dido and Oasis and a 15-year career marked with wet-eyed fans mouthing their lyrics, Travis has been dubbed the Dave Matthews Band of the U.K. Much like Matthews, Travis has been embraced for writing songs about the Everyman—about struggle and love and envy and forward-thinking.

The album is punctuated with knock-out, career-making songs like “Sing” and “Flowers in the Window,” shiny-happy na-na songs of yesterday, “U16 Girls” and “Tied to the 90’s,” and some more somber new editions. It’s regrettable the songs aren’t in chronological order, as Travis’ progression has been quite fascinating.

Drummer Neil Primrose took a negligent dive into a hotel swimming pool in the summer of 2002, shattered his noggin and survived near paralysis with dogged determination. Meanwhile, lead singer and chief songwriter Franny Healy got burnt out on his subject matter of choice (his girlfriend Nora, for whom he penned many a cheezed-out love song in the ‘90s) and drew inspiration instead from the war in Iraq and Primrose’s accident. Travis made a group decision to ditch their producer for the sake of some stretching room. The result? Their adolescent pop sound has dwindled, and they’ve crafted weighty, gritty numbers like “Re-Offender” and “The Beautiful Occupation.”

This band is nothing if not earnest. But at the end of the day, Travis isn’t worthy of real critical acclaim, as are peers Radiohead, to whom they are most-often compared. There’s nothing controversial about Travis, and perhaps the same component that makes them so damn accessible is what makes them somewhat of a bore. Travis is a top-shelf band, watered down a bit.

—Ellen Mallernee

The Autumns
The Autumns (Pseudopod)

Let’s go ahead and crown the Autumns heir to the Jeff Buckley legacy. The Los Angeles band has tapped into what was perhaps Buckley’s greatest strength: the ability to be ethereal and haunting—to give in completely to unbridled passion—and still rock. The artists spent some time simultaneously covering the same emotional territory; the Autumns have been at it since 1997. But Buckley’s death opened a space for Americans to make lush rock. Coldplay, Interpol and Keane are nice, but the Autumns go for broke into unrelenting, almost operatic emotional territory. And who knows what Matthew Kelly is singing, but it’s gorgeous. Lest he get too pretty, his dreamy desperation is countered by a rhythm section that knows when to pitter-pat and when to let loose a sky full of thunder.

—Paige M. Travis

The Sam Roberts Band
We Were Born in a Flame (Lost Highway)

The Canadian-based band Sam Roberts’ first full-length debut, We Were Born in a Flame, is a successful blend of so many influential rock greats it’s difficult not to get a little teary-eyed and giddy when listening to it. Throughout the 13-track CD, there are subtle, yet reminiscent hints of Dylan, Neil Young, The Clash, Paul Simon and even the Abbey Road-era Beatles. But unlike most up-and-coming rock groups that attempt to model their sound after industry legends and typically end up only insulting the imitated and retired—as well as the devoted and consuming public—Sam Roberts comes off genuine and pleasingly passionate.

The new CD ranges from the soft melodic psychedelia of “Taj Mahal” to the harsher, guitar-ripping soul sound of “Don’t Walk Away Eileen” and then slips down to the folk-like bubblegumminess of “No Sleep.” About two tracks in, you’ll wish you knew the words to all the songs so you could rock out alongside the band, rather than just hum along like someone who happened to be lucky enough to stumble upon the disc.

—Noah Bowman

Umphrey’s McGee
Anchor Drops (SCI Fidelity)

In a time when music no longer fits into single, tight-knit categories, and genres meld together into another rock 'n roll evolutionary stage, Umphrey's McGee has dropped its anchor. Comparable to jam legends Phish and The Grateful Dead, the group combines and adapts progressive-rock to metal to folk to funk. Umphrey's latest release, Anchor Drops, follows its integral and spontaneous style and navigates around musical and lyrical cliches. Their infectious and danceable grooves have developed to a higher maturity level from previous releases and are accompanied by lyrics that are both thought-provoking and accessible. The album's repertoire transitions from a harmonious husband/wife duet in “Bullhead City” to the intense, boisterous “Miss Tinkle's Overture,” and yet again to the funky and spirited “Mulche's Odyssey,” proving that they still have a lot of surprises up their sleeves.

—Melissa Elkins

November 18, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 47 © 2004 Metro Pulse