Poor, poor Travis. The Scottish band is performing in Salt Lake City the same night at B.B. King and Bruce Cockburn.

And, most daunting, Travis is playing literally across the street from Britney Spears.

That's ironic scheduling, since the rock band first came to attention in America with its cover of Spears' first hit, "... Baby One More Time," which was quickly followed by the band's 1999 breakthrough album, "The Man Who."

"We'll definitely have to play '... Baby One More Time," said Travis frontman Fran Healy in a Tribune interview. "Thanks for telling me [about Spears' concert]."

"I always enjoy playing '... Baby One More Time,'" added Travis guitarist Andy Dunlop.

Once portended as the next Oasis -- even touring with the British band -- Travis is content to still be playing together, after a near-crippling bout of depression for Healy and the near-death of drummer Neil Primrose in a 2002 diving accident. But after the release of 2007's "The Boy With No Name," the band rediscovered the pleasure of performing. "During the American leg of that tour, near the end of 2007, the confidence that I --- and we --- had lost came back," Healy said.

At the end of the tour, the band faced a decision. Bassist Douglas Payne's wife was pregnant, and he was promised paternity leave. But the band was clicking as it hadn't in years, so the musicians decided rather than taking more than six months off, to record a studio album. "We had to do it before Dougie had his baby," Dunlop said.

The result was 2008's "Ode to J. Smith," with harder-rocking, more raw-sounding songs, recalling the energy of the band's debut album, which had featured a song called "All I Want to Do is Rock." " 'All I Want to Do is Rock' is like we're doing now," Healy said.

"It's a fun album to play," said Dunlop, whose dexterous playing as lead guitarist is featured more prominently than on the earlier albums, which had earned Travis a reputation as a mellow, introspective band. The Scots have abandoned that approach for the time being.

They want to rock, baby, one more time.