Music Preview: Get All Scottish And Sensitive With Travis @ Stubb's

Coldplay's Chris Martin recently described Travis as "the band that invented my band and lots of others." That should give most people a solid idea of what to expect when Glasgow's indie-pop quartet stop into Stubb's Thursday night. After debuting with the raucous pub rock album Good Feeling in 1997, the band did an about-face with 1999's The Man Who, a moody, ballad-filled acoustic record produced by Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Beck) that produced several huge hits and propelled the band to arena rock status all over Europe. At the time, the band was seen as a welcome respite from the myriad Oasis and Blur clones, which the band found hilarious given that hit single "Driftwood" was liberally lifted from the chord structure of "Wonderwall." (The band was friendly with Oasis, who gave permission for the winking thievery.)

Travis' sensitive rock triumphs essentially kicked open the door for a wave of bands in England including frontrunners Coldplay and Snow Patrol and also-rans Keane and Starsailor. The listener can decide whether they consider this a good thing, but there's no denying the band's influence on not just UK rock, but the general nature of the (Beatlesesque, pounding drum-filled, heart-on-sleeve) power ballad in the 2000's.

Thursday's Stubb's gig comes in support of this year's The Boy With No Name, which makes mocking reference to singer Fran Healy's inability to decide on his son's name for several days after the child's arrival. We recently described The Boy With No Name as "a welcome return to comfortable environs after the disappointing 12 Memories, this newest album finds Travis singing about love, babies, friendship, and optimism...which is exactly what fans of the group want to hear." So if this is your music genre of choice, there's simply no excuse not to turn up Thursday and smile while weeping into your pint. Support on the night comes from John Paul White, a Alabama singer-songwriter that seems made from the Ray LaMontagne beardy and earnest mold.

Check out the two videos from Travis' new album at right, which feature cameos from Ben Stiller ("Closer") and interpretive signage from comedian Demetri Martin ("Selfish Jean").

[Travis MySpace]
[Travis Official Site]

Travis w/ John Paul White
Thursday, July 26th
Stubb's Outdoors [map]
Doors at 7pm, Show at 8pm
$27 + s/c [tickets]

Image via Travis' "Selfish Jean" single artwork.