Musical Elective of the Month

As I have utterly failed to meet the weekly deadlines demanded by the recurring "Musical Elective Of The Week" feature, I hereby decree that said feature will now be known as the "Musical Elective Of The Month." Phew!

I've always been a sucker for BritPop. From Duran Duran to The Smiths to Oasis to Keane, I'm all over it. Such is the same with April's Musical Elective Of The Month: Travis.

Travis is a Scottish band comprised of singer/songwriter Fran Healy, guitarist Andy Dunlop, bassist Dougie Payne, and drummer Neil Primrose. I've been enamored with them for the past decade. To be quite honest, I'm stuck on Travis's 1999 album The Man Who and 2001's The Invisible Band--both of which hit #1 on the British charts. The Man Who features the perfect pop tracks "Writing To Reach You," "Driftwood" and "Why Does It Always Rain On Me." Similarly, The Invisible Band is one of my favorite complete albums -- it offers up the singles "Sing," "Side" and "Flowers In The Window."

Travis's first album, Good Feeling, was released in 1997. And they've put out four more since time stopped for me--12 Memories in 2003, The Boy With No Name in 2007, and Ode To J Smith in 2008 as well as a singles compilation.

They are just finishing up a four-week tour of the U.S. and Canada. You lucky dawgs in DC have a chance to catch Travis at the 9:30 Club tomorrow night. Then it's onto Philly, New York, and Boston.

Check out more about Travis at the official web site.

When I first held you I was cold
A melting snowman I was told
But there was no-one there to hold
Before I swore that I would be alone forever more
--"Flowers In The Window," The Invisible Band (2001)

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