Album Reviews |

The View



Hats Off To The Buskers 3 ( 2007 )
Comin' Down / Superstar Tradesman / Same Jeans / Don't Tell Me / Skag Trendy / Don / Face For Radio / Wasted Little DJs / Grans For Tea / Dance Into The Night / Claudia / Streetlights / Wasteland / Typical Time

Are we supposed to be stupid, is that it? NME and Radio 1 have a lot to answer for. The View have been marketed as and sound like a cross between Arctic Monkeys and The Libertines with a little Kooks thrown in. Now, all three of those bands are genuine enough but why rip off a rip off? Why make an album that sounds like every other fuckers album out around about now? What's the point? Well, if you've got a Pete Doherty in the band, fair enough. That man can write. Even he sounds like crap when all he's got is shit to sing, though. Which leads me nicely into reviewing the debut album by The View, the latest pretenders. Even the album title smacks of rip-off, sounding as it does like an Arctic Monkeys song-title. Again, do they think we're stupid? Well, 'Don' proves they are. Rather than cutting-edge attitude married to delicious melodic song-craft, it sounds like they are auditioning to be part of a George Formby tribute act. Even Damon Albarn would steer clear in his more stupid moments. The bouncy bouncy bass sounds way too fairground as well. 'Grans For Tea'? What kind of punk rock is that and how does it work on the same album as 'Skag Trendy'? I talking just in song title terms. Stupidly, 'Grans For Tea', awful lyrics apart is one of the better songs here. I mean, even Robbie Williams wouldn't write a lyric as terrible as this and that's saying something. This is an album that's near enough been number one in the UK album charts. Oh, 'Wasteland' utterly predictably sports a faint ska beat. Leave it alone, already.

You know that phrase, find a new way to say the same old thing? A new way to present the same old sound? Some bands do that well and let's face it fifty years into rock n roll, giving us the same thing but presenting it in a new way is all most bands are doing. The View go into reverse and not only provide us with nothing new but have nothing to say, either. An old way to present nothing at all. It's terrifying that people can actually believe there is anything 'alternative' or 'indie' about The View. Kylie Minogue is more 'indie' than The View. Not that being indie matters, but when a band is wrapped up and packaged and sold so painfully obviously and badly and people then buy the thing by the truckload when the album has all the charm of a hairy arse-crack? The singer sounds about twelve, the guitar lines are generic and the sound is mashed potatoe, meat and two veg. In fact, i'd rather lose my meat and two veg than ever listen to this again. The screaming and bawling like a child at the end of 'Wasted DJ's' about says it all. Says more than I can.

Add A Comment?

Readers Comments Rob N robnicholl_acquiesce05@hotmail.co.uk firstly, how is a band on 1965 records less indie than kylie minogue? cheers. and secondly, bang out of order with the review..... the 'childish screamin n shouting' at the end of Wasted Little Djs, ok, what about the howl at the beginning of Up The Bracket? or is that different because its by the libertines? bad album review here, you have mentioned, in very very brief detail, about 5 songs and panned them all without mentioning anything about them aside from 'bad lyrics' or 'faint ska beat' faint ska beat? wasteland has a ska beat to it, there is no faint about it it is a song with a Ska beat. whether you like the song or the lyrics is a different matter all together. you say the band are not punk rock enough because they have a track called 'grans for tea'......well they never claim to be punk rock, but Skag Trendy is pretty punk rock sounding and has one of the best vocal delivaries in a song i have heard since......oh Pete Doherty in ! 'The Boy Looked At Johnny' 3/10 is pointless for this review, the singles have all gotten into the top 20 before the album was released so they must be doing something right, you're album reviews are normally spot on but this is a piss take mate 'Even the album title smacks of rip-off, sounding as it does like an Arctic Monkeys song-title' it just seems that you are desperate to take a swipe at The View, i mean Stars In Their Eyes sounds like a AM's song does that mean Just Jack are indie pretenders? I'll agree that the album is not as goodas people make out and was glad it got an 8/10 rating in NME rather than the predictable and overrated 10/10 that The Arctic Monkeys got, but if you think The View are ripping off The Kooks and are not as good then you need to check your ears. Comin' down sets the tone, raw, rugged and angry. screaming guitars and the howls from Kyle. i agree with you on this point, i think Kieron is a much better singer th! an Kyle, i just think his voice on Skag trendy is much better ! than any of the Kyle Led ones, but nevertheless he does a fine job. album highlights are 'Skag trendy', Wasted Little Djs and Face For The Radio. the latter being a fine acoustic track, lyrics about childhood friends and mispent youth......remember these kids are 19/20 years old, they are not as well read as morrissey and they come from dundee......have you ever been to dundee? there is nothing to right about ha ha! Same Jeans, whilst being a rip off of Brimful of Asha is probably the worst track on here, but it is still a good little pop song. nothing more nothing less, the fast bit at the end adding variant charm to it. And if you are looking for a band that are ripping off everybody elses sound,. check out Little Man Tate. must just be a difference of opinion, because i thoroughly enjoyed this album and am looking forward to see how they pull it off live. 8.5/10 but for the most part, these reviews are spot on, keep em coming. nicholas nicholas@aol.com Hats off to the buskers is a great album, it kicks on from where the libertines left off and in a funny youthful way. personaly being 19yo myself i can appreciate an album of quality and the album is deffinetly a grower youv got like it so its at least an 8/10 from me. Baztech baz@edin77.freeserve.co.uk Don't listen to these people Adrian! The view are dire, and this is a howler of an album, not that i have heard all of it, but i don't need to. Compare this to Franz Ferdinand or even The Dead 60's and this is laughable average stuff. Patrick Mallon arcticjunkie@hotmail.com ok, they do sound like the libertines (a lot like) but the album is still very good, not brilliant or anything but its a good steady debut. but i wouldnt be suprised if there next album was shite. the album is not good enough though to have me listening to it for weeks, and months like other recent 'indie' albums (arctic monkeys, kooks, razorlight - up all night) Rob N robnicholl_acquiesce05@hotmail.co.uk 'Don't listen to these people Adrian! The view are dire, and this is a howler of an album, not that i have heard all of it, but i don't need to. Compare this to Franz Ferdinand or even The Dead 60's and this is laughable average stuff.' thought this was worth a laugh, The View sound nothing like dead 60's or ranz ferdinand, never have claimed to either. but, go watch the view live, they are very much a live band and the songs come across much stronger than on the album. The delicate opening to the don for example is transformed into a glorious crowd led singalong, wasted little djs and the rest of the singles will blow you away. Still a good album for me, but so much better live. Jamie jjay75@gmail.com this albums awful...he was perfectly correct to give it 3...its just comepletely laughable, theyre all about 10 trying to write clever songs by compying the libertines, but it clearly isnt working. Awful album, one of the worst "successful" albums in recent years.

Lead single '5 Rebbeccas' peaked at only number 57 in the UK singles charts. Well, would you buy a new song by The View after the disaster that was their debut LP? Thought not, as too many people are too easily swayed. So, less sales for 'Which Bitch' even though it's far superior? Quite possibly. The View you see have grown up slightly and developed a musuclar edge to their sound. '5 Rebbeccas' is just fantastic, a real power-pop of a guitar thrash through melodic gold. Suddenly The Libertines comparisons, dare I say it, make sense? I did say the singer sounded about 12 last time out too. Well, two years later he sounds about seventeen. Basically, his vocals are no longer the issue they once were. Sure, he occasionally sounds a little whiny but more often than not, his vocals fit the tunes just right. Second single 'Shock Horror' is a good deal more straightforward than '5 Rebbeccas', a little messy at times and without a strong chorus, yet the verses are further proof The View have advanced from the naievity of their debut. I do wish the album wasn't nearly sixty minutes long, mind you. Forty minutes would be great, let's knock off a few tunes as inevitably, not everything here is good.

I wonder if Owen Morris ( Oasis Producer ) has tampered with The View drum sound or whether that's a result of their touring turning Kieran Webster and drummer Steve Morrison into a terrific rhythm section. Morris also produced their debut LP, after all. Songs like 'Temptation Dice' realise the real world of The View, it seeps convincingly into the song. What else? Well, 'Distant Doubloon' is restrained, string assisted music hall without damaging the bands reputation in the process. 'Give Back The Sun' is sub-libertines and disappointingly flabby. 'Glass Smash' and 'Double Yellow Lines' both benefit from the newly muscular The View rhythm section and that's about it for me. The album is stupidly titled, has about 3 songs too many on it and can't quite remain fully consistent. It's still street aheads of their debut album and if The View can make the same sort of leap again next time out, i'll be tuning in.

Add A Comment?