Named not after Robert De Niro's equaliser in Taxi Driver but Harry Dean Stanton's drifter in Paris, Texas - a salient distinction - Travis were formed in Glasgow two years ago, during which time their anachronistic brand of part-bluster, part-hippy rock has clinched them a Sony publishing deal, first-band-signed honours with Andy McDonald's new label, and marginally less next-big-thing plaudits than Enbrace. Old heads on youngish (mid-twenties) shoulders, the quartet's ability to perform two distinct tricks will be their making. The album's pained soul- searching stuff (Funny Thing, I Love You Anyways) conjures up downtempo Radiohead, not least in fellow art student Francis Healy's cracked vocal; while the lad anthems (All I Wanna Do Is Rock, glorious glitterstomper U16 Girls) are delivered without irony. And the title track wouldn't have been kicked off Aladdin Sane. That good.

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Andrew Collins