Which Bitch? review

They’ve been called the Scottish Libertines, though for the life of me I can’t think why. Where the Libertines were Britpop redux,

The View are more good old fashioned Indie rock ‘n’ rollers, more akin to the Arctic Monkeys – with equally regional accents.

Their debut album, Hats Off To The Buskers, had a few cracking singles and a lot of fi llers, the follow-up, Which Bitch?, is even better. The opener, Typical Time 2, is a cutesy folk-blues ditty for harmonica and piano, followed by the first single 5Rebbecca’s [sic], dazzlingly cut with one of those killer choruses that leaps out of nowhere and grabs you by the throat.

One Off Pretender, with frontman Kyle Falconer rapping Mike Skinner-like in a thick (and often impenetrable) Dundee accent,
is interrupted by the rousing “Shout it from the rooftop” terrace chant chorus.

And the string-laden Unexpected, underscored by a moody bassline, is a song of sombre haunting beauty, as it describes the singer’s shock and guilt at the “unexpected” suicide of a loved one, “But I always should have known/That you would lead a shortened life as your light was running low”. Great stuff.

Seen & Heard, June 2009