The View - Which Bitch

Sea shanties? Rapping? String laden ballads? Who are this band and what have they done with The View?

Whatever The View have been doing for the last two years, it seems to have broadened their musical horizons and thrown up a real mixed bag of an album. Which is a good thing. It seems that a lot of bands are content with producing a decent first album and churning out a near replica for the second to try and keep their fanbase and record company happy. Not so The View.

After a brief reworking of ‘Typical Time’, first single from the album and the excellent, full on Oasis-esque ‘5 Rebecca’s’ might suggest you’re in for 40 minutes of predictable rock n’ roll from Dundee’s finest, but ‘One Off Pretender’ quickly sees to that. Kyle Falconer’s verses are delivered in a style of rapping that can only be compared to something Ant n Dec would have turned out in the 90s. The best thing we can say about it is that it’s, erm, different. ‘Unexpected’ and ‘Distant Doubloon’ point towards a more mature sound, both exhibiting the band’s ear for melody and use of strings. The former in particular is a slow burning, tender track and not something associated with a band more synonymous with the more dynamic songs on the album like ‘Temptation Dice’ and the raw agression of ‘Shock Horror’.

A couple of unremarkable songs (‘Covers’ featuring Paolo Nutini, and ‘Jimmy’s Crazy Conspiracy’) kick off the second side and give rise to a feeling that it’s already winding down and tailing off. Only album closer ‘Gem Of A Bird’, an acoustic ballad with shades of The Beatles, rises to the heights of the first half but you feel you’ve been built up only to be let down by the time you get there.

Chop four or five tracks off and ‘Which Bitch?’ would stand up well against almost anything released during 2009. What we’re left with is an album of slightly disjointed diversity interspersed with glimpses of genuine quality. The View are still on fire. Just.