I have to admit, that most of my experience with Travis has been the lite-rock band that came to prominence with easy listening hits like Why Does It Always Rain On Me and the syrupy Sing. I always knew that like most limp-wristed rock bands that my mum likes, they probably started out with a harder edge, but toned that down when they realised that wuss rock sells better to cashed up housewives than hard rock will ever do.

So, I was initially sceptical at this return by the band to their earlier, "rockier" sound. I've been fooled before by bands promising to do this (Powderfinger's dreadful "Vulture Street" still lingers as a cautionary example in my mind), but it actually turns out that "Ode to J. Smith" isn't really that bad. Once you get past the strange title and the truly terrible cover artwork, this is the sound of a band getting back to what it sounds like they wanted to do the whole time, and... well... rocking.

For an example of this, the sort-of-title track, J. Smith, is worth looking at. Not only is it riff-based, but it's a hard, jagged, distorted guitar riff that sounds like it would be more at home in a rough-and-tumble pub than the middle-class sitting rooms that their previous output seemed tailored to. The obvious touchstone to describe it is to cite early Britpop acts like The Kinks, but this doesn't fully account for the church choir and quasi-grunge guitar work that makes the song.

The quasi-grunge sound is further explored on tracks like Broken Mirror, and while it's still perhaps a bit too polished and sophisticated to fool anyone into thinking it's the genuine article from Seattle, it manages to at least make a better show of it than anyone else trying to fake it these days. For those that prefer their music a little more restrained, great tracks like Song to Self show that the band can also punch out a suitably epic sounding rock ballad just as easily as they can do the riff-based hard rock numbers. Who would have thought?

All in all, "Ode to J. Smith" is a terrific turn into left field for Travis, executed with professionalism and skill. The band sound like they actually want to be doing what they're doing, and the result is an album that feels tremendously vital, beautiful, and alive. If you were like me and thought that Travis were just a band for people who like Keane, then give them another chance and give this record a listen. I think you won't be disappointed.