Show pick of the week
TRAVIS
If all you want to do is rock, then four lads from Glasgow are prepared to show you how.
Last spring, Travis – one of the finest bands to emerge from the Northern U.K. in the 1990s – returned with fifth album “The Boy with No Name.” The title was inspired by the birth of singer/guitarist Fran Healy’s son Clay.
Magnificent in scope, it includes bittersweet lyrics, yearning vocals, shimmering melodies and some rockier bits. Essentially, all the elements that first endeared the quartet to fans here and abroad.
There’s a positive vibe to the heavenly “One Night” and romantic “Closer,”
while “Colder” boasts a dense, yet majestic sound featuring harp, harmonica and vocoder. Brawny rocker “Selfish Jean,” inspired by Iggy Pop and Martha and the Vandellas should go down a storm in concert.
This past April, the group (rounded out by bassist Dougie Payne, guitarist Andy Dunlop and drummer Neil Primrose) played the Coachella Festival and did a small venue gig at the El Rey Theatre. SoCal enthusiasts have waited six months for another shot of splendor.
Get ready to “Sing” at the top of your lungs. Highly touted U.K. upstarts Maximo Park open.
Doors at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, House of Blues, Downtown Disney, Anaheim, $38, (714) 778-BLUE.