Travis -- The Boy With No Name

Have you heard a Travis album before? Then you can rule out the chances of hearing this one as well. Sting. Ouch. Lead singer Fran Healy must be on Prozac because this is the one Travis album that won't make you want to hurt yourself. Upon first listen, it's gloriously good, beautiful and melodic, with the formula for an Indie Rock album fully intact. That is why, when you give it a few more spins, you might find yourself yawning. Still reading? Then you can find out the most redeeming qualities -- there are a few, at least. The band's first single, "Closer," is the best track on the album. The lyrics are sappy (what do you expect?) and the song is catchy, which is a horrible word to describe a song, but it's true in this case. The harmonies are haunting and, overall, the song is worthy of the repeat button. The band has the ability of aptly filling each space of a musical measure with heavy instrumentation. Surprisingly, in most cases this doesn't cause too much commotion and the guitars blend magnificently. But the downfall of trying to fill a bunch of space sonically is the dreaded overproduction. These songs are simple and the blending of the instruments is well crafted, so they should have left well enough alone. "Out in Space" features booming, unnecessary noise, while "New Amsterdam" has birds chirping and a siren, which can be annoying when listening in the car (you'll find your hand turning down the volume to figure out from where the noise is coming). This should have been much better, given that Nigel Godrich is the executive producer and Brian Eno helped out as well. The album has 12 tracks, and seven of them are fairly strong. The math adds up to failing, but it can be enjoyed a little more than that if you're in the right mood. (Daniele Pfarr) Grade: C+