Travis - Selfish Jean (Independiente)
3/5
By: Alex Lee Thomson
We'll be the first to admit that in their day, and at a push, Travis really were OK. Things like 'Side', 'Turn' and 'All I Wanna Do Is Rock' were great songs, but as a band they'd never truly done anything worth properly talking about. As we're sure many others did, we'd all but written off their new album before we'd even heard it, but timidly we've walked towards it like that little girl in Poltergeist dashing for the light... and at the heart of it all is this boisterous and rowdy little number.
And y'know, it's kinda fun. It sounds remarkably fresh, which for a band who had already started on their retirement material a few years go, is something of an accomplishment, don't you think? Fran sounds like he's enjoying himself rather that being hurt by his lyrics, which are in true Travis style, rather morose while constantly poetic. Its happy-clappy wonderment and complete bedazzlement and even the fact the drumming is pretty much robbed from 'Lust For Life' doesn't matter, as it's just so darn playable.
You know it's pop nonsense, but as far as pop goes, this is among the best of it with its peripatetic percussion that bounces oh so well off the almost smashed-David Bowie vocal that twists a little more than we've ever heard from the boys. There's a Christmassy charm to it, and when you look at its rudiments, it is, being as fair as we can be without looking like wallies in a few weeks, whilst not astounding, really pretty good.
Watch the video to 'Selfish Jean' HERE.
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