The Man Who

By CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY

The London-based Scottish rock band Travis makes music that sounds like the sound track to a troubled sleep. On this satisfying new album, its songs are gentle but insistent, melancholic but always melodious. At times the band comes off like a more polite, slightly less experimental version of the art-rock band Radiohead. Although the majority of the tracks on this CD--including the mellow Driftwood, the mopey Why Does It Always Rain on Me?--are quiet and introspective, Travis never comes across as wimpy or insubstantial.

--By Christopher John Farley