UK Single Release 09/07/07

Well it's nice to see Bat For Lashes' What's A Girl To Do get another release. Probably the best track off the album and lets hope we get some nice success for it this time around (not that I'm holding my breath sadly).

I'm not too keen on that new Arctic Monkeys one. It's not bad, but not one of the better tracks off the album.

Wouldn't you believe it. Mere days after playing Live Earth, Razorlight are cashing in with a single release. Never in a million years will you find me saying anything other than that being a totally random coincidence.

Nerina Pallot keeps the wolves from the door this week with a cover of Steeley Dan's Peg...with Richard X at the production helm nonetheless! It's a good effort. I could of course compare this to not wanting "pop" remixes of songs of a certain other album but that would be me being churlish. And anyway folks, it's not selling out. There is nothing wrong with selling records.

Sarah Nixey releases her Human League cover The Black Hit Of Space this week as well. I like this, as readers of my album review will already be aware,

Am I the only one who doesn't see the point of Bloc Party anymore?

And Travis? Yet another dull single in Selfish Jean...thanks boys.

My Chemical Romance seem to keep getting worse as well. I know you might not have thought that possible, but The Teenagers certainly seems to point to that fact.

The Boy With No Name - Travis

Travis hold a special place in a personal trivia quiz kind of way, mainly due to two "university" moments. Number one, The Little Crown pub had the song U16 Girls on it's jukebox (and as we were usually the only people in there when we went in we had no problem playing what we wanted - no wonder the pub is now closed) and secondly I once won a Travis promo CD at our student uni quiz. Actually I've just thought of a third university link. Dave Proud. I'd explain it, but I'm already boring the one other person who reads this site that might know what I'm on about so I'll crack on with the proper business.

Good Feeling would have passed me by if it wasn't for another of those "3 quid in WH Smiths" things, and whilst The Man Who was, and indeed still is, an excellent album I was less impressed with The Invisible Band and 12 Memories. Not that they were necessarily bad albums by any means, they just sounded at times like a band on auto-pilot; yes there were a couple of great singles (Sing and Re-Offender in particular) but little else that remains in my mind in 2007.

It was with a heavy heart then that I heard the opening single off The Boy With No Name, Closer. To be frank, it wasn't very good. And its a smell that the album as a whole cannot shake off.

For every Selfish Jean, a song which beefs up their sound but still retains all that is good about Travis, or One Night that genuinely lifts you there is a Big Chair or Out In Space that drifts along pleasantly enough without ever really threatening to show any vitality.

There are, as I have said, a couple of great moments on the album but they're not enough to convince you otherwise of that nagging little voice telling you that Travis are probably a little too past their sell-by date by now.