The View – Hats Off To The Buskers – The Album Verdict

• 22nd Jan 2007

The View are a band currently making (air) waves around the UK. Everyone loves them. The music industry cant praise them enough; mainstream radio cant play them enough. So with the release of their debut album, it was always going to be interesting to see if this latest bunch of mumbling scruffball wannabe's really live up to the hype… Sarah Moyes finds out.

Dundee: A place that's never really been known for its music scene. In fact when I was in school (not too long ago), it was only really known as the place your schoolteachers’ continually dragged you to on the annual day out. Yes, visiting that same boat time and time again doesn’t get anymore exciting the 5th time round.
However, now thanks to one of the most impressive debuts of this year, Dundee will now have undoubtedly found its place on the musical map. The reason? Enter: The View. We may not understand much of what they say, but when the tunes on offer are this good, does it really matter? Their debut album ‘Hats Of To The Buskers’ proves not.
'Comin Down' kicks off the record in fine fashion and in truth, may have the sounds of Jet on holiday in the highlands. With its rousing melody and blinding guitar solo, its sure to make those put off by the generic indie pop crap known as 'Same Jeans' sit up and take notice. The cleverly titled, 'Face For The Radio' slows everything on the record down and finally lets us understand what Kyle is saying (even for an east coast girl like myself it can be near impossible at times). The key tracks on the album are perhaps unsurprisingly ones you will have heard before.
With their Libertines-esque riffs and buoyant passion, previous singles 'Superstar Tradesman' and 'Wasted Little DJ's' offer clear evidence of what has attracted so many people to the View in the first place; and show what has kept indie kids dancing to their songs ever since.
It might only be the start of January but is pretty much guaranteed 2007 will be the year of The View. Take your hats off to them; they’re living up to the hype.