Another Album Review

From residencies in grubby Dundee pubs to the front pages of the music mags, and more importantly still, 3 top 20 hit singles in what’s been an explosive year for Kyle Falconer and the boys. In addition to the continual radio bombardment the band have maintained their Rock n’ roll street cred and column inches, with regular skirmishes with the law, hotel operators, and have toured with Babyshambles (always a guarantee for news worthiness). They mesmerize audiences with a mixture of electrifying presence, unreserved levels of energy, and some decent tunes. And so, to a debut album that promises to replicate the live shows, a chance to indulge in one of 2007’s bright new hopes, and to share a piece of these street urchins, for as former Stone Rose and Primal Scream bass player Mani says, “They’re a bunch of cheeky monkeys, and I love that, it reminds me of me when I was their age”.

Producer Owen Morris has worked wonders. He’s done nothing to shape their music, just scooped the four into the studio and pressed the record button. The band basically just step up and perform their live set and frankly that’s what captures the essence of The View. There’s no need to enhance the sound with studio trickery, overdubs etc. One take and out works perfectly, even down to the coughing at the end of “Don’t Tell Me”. To get the full effect of their tempestuous energy the stomping opener “Coming Down” hits you like a cyclone, whips you up and spews you back out in just over two minutes. There’s a Libertines post punk charm that raises the level of adrenalin, and the singles “Superstar Tradesman” and “Wasted Little DJ’s” continually manage to charge those levels with rabid vigour. If there is a reservation, it’s “Face For The Radio” which sounds too Kooksian and pedestrian in comparison to the enlivened sounds they achieve elsewhere, and the quality begins to wane towards the end with some unconvincing Ska rehashes. But as debut albums go, this one has enough joie de vivre, cocky bravado and raw spirit to burn a hole in your heart, and remind everyone that when The View next come to town, follow the beer trail and make sure you see them. Lets hope they don’t burn out like their mentors.

These Pub Rockers sparkle with a radiance that nearly every band in Britain will never aspire to, and although there’s nothing fundamentally new here, “Hats Off To The Buskers” is ballsy, raw and fun.

by Ben Heller, Rate Your Music, 2nd September