From Oasis's “Definitely Maybe” to “Word gets Around” by the stereophonics and Wet Wet Wet's “Popped In Souled OutI” have always liked band's debut albums. I find them raw , enthusiastic and aspirational but at the same time down to earth and easy to relate to. To add to my list is “Hats off to the Buskers the Mercury nominated debut by by Dundonian quartet the View.
The View are a young indie band who hail from the Dundee district of Dryburgh. There music is rooted in their background with lead singer Kyle Falconer's vocals proudly displaying the Dundonian burr, which is a pleasure to listen to. I really like regional accents in music and think there should be more of them although at times they can be hard to understand. “Hat's off to the Buskers” is produced by Owen Morris, who also produced Oasis and The Verve , was released in January 2007. Its is an album full of three minute slices of sunny guitar driven indite mixed with a bit of folk and some angrier punk inspired numbers.
The album bursts into life from the first squall of feedback heralding “Coming Down”, an energetic song evoking the golden era of punk circa late 1970s. It's certainly a statesmen of intent with its semi shouted vocals, dirty guitars and a chugging bass line that give the
song a real raw energy and excitement. Its the sound of a young band experimenting and having fun.
The View do punk but they can also do very good catchy pop songs with sing along choruses and thought provoking lyrics. Superstar Tradesman with its chiming guitar riff is a song about doing what you want and following our dreams rather than doing what your parents want to do even if that might be more profitable or secure. “Ssuperstar Tradesman stand at the bar, get a trade son you'll go far” Kyle sings rolling his rs like a trooper. . On this track alongside others his vocals sort of remind me of Kelly Jones from the Stereophonics.
From one catchy slice of indie pop rock to another “Same Jeans” a song about being scruffy and trying not to be an embarrassment is probably the View's most famous song. mid paced with a nice harmonica riff and a chorus reminiscent of Cornershop's “Brimful of Asha”. I especially love the ending live when the song is speed ed up and goes a bit frantic as the cymbals are crashed and the guitar gets more manic.
Some songs are more immediate than others. I really was not keen ”Skag Trendy” at first as it was totally different from the rest of the album but it has grown on me since but it is certainly a challenging song compared to the more radio friendly stuff. “Skag Trendy” is a character based story song about a young lad rejected by his parents and his girlfriend due to a drug problem and is wasting his life away. This song is his cry for help. On first listen all I could hear was a stream of incomprehensible yodeling and chanted broad Dundonian performed at various speeds throughout the song although the distinctive bass introduction is very good. On subsequent listens I began to apprentice the story telling aspects to the song with the different voices of the narrator and Master Skag Trendy himself, as part of th song is sung quite melodically which contrasts with the harsher spoken vocals.
. “The Don” has a lot in common thematically with “Skag Trendy”. Its about another outcast character this time a lonely studious boy doing piano lessons whilst his peers are “hanging round the shop and stealing milk bottles”.. Musically it is completely different, its more melodic and listenable than “Skag Trendy” . It has a nice jaunty feel to it with its guitar and bass lines bouncing along. It has a an upbeat cheery feel to it turning into an indie rock song towards the end.
Another song another style, as the pace is brought right down for tone of my favourite songs on the album “Face for the Radio”. It's a sunny acoustic number with pretty melodies and harmonious backing vocals backed by a acoustic guitar. Kyle's vocals sound purer, sweet and more conventional as the Dundonain brogue seems to have faded on this number. I love it as it is so pretty and simple. It reminds me of some of the early Stereophonics songs. Its a breath of fresh air before we get back to the rock and roll influences of “Wasted Little DJs”
“Wasted Little DJ s” was the first song I heard by the View and its a good one. The song berates trendy hangers on such as DJs only into something because its cool and not because they are fans and plays tribute to the Libertines. Its also strongly punk influenced with angry guitar which would not sound out of place on a Sex Pistols track.
“Gran's for Tea” gets the prize for the most domestic song title since “Mum's Gone to Iceland” by one hit wonders Bennett. “hat's off the Busker's” is full of these little glimpses of ordinary life from “signing on the brew (the dole)” to “Mile length queues at th chippy” and references to places in Dundee such as “house in the Ferry (Broughty Ferry the posh area of Dundee)”. Its place specific but there are also themes you can relate to.
The next two tracks ”Dance into the Night” and Claudia hark back to the days of rock and roll. I even think “Dance Into the Night” has a touch of skiffle thrown into the mix. Claudia is a laid back mid paced number with a definite older feel to it due to the guitar work
We go forward twenty years to the early 80s for the “Wasteland. It has a heavily distorted and warped introduction morphing into a ska based song about unemployment surly influenced by the Specials with at times a very angry hostile feel to it.
One last short song and one last change of styles. At under a minute “typical time is a quirky little folk number with jaunty harmonicaa and humorous lyrics rounds the album up very nicely.
It's not hats off to the buskers but hats off to the View. Hat's Off to the Buskers shows great promise with its mix of pop, punk rock and hints of ska and folk added to by Falconer's distinctive Dundonian brogue. I look forward to hearing subsequent releases and seeing if they can build ion their debut without loosing their identity and sound.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Super review, well written, informative and very helpful to the consumer.
BZ2886 17.07.2009 00:49
A good review which makes the album sound decent, I am not sure if I like them really from what I have heard though. And they do tick the right boxes but I never clicked with this band.
RICHADA 10.07.2009 21:12
......guess I'm just not into punk rock - indie or not! Richard. xxx
Advantages: Some terrifically catchy tracks, excellent vocals and brilliant guitar work. Disadvantages: At times their sound is a little too plagiarised for my liking.
Jul 5th, 2009
exceptional by (2%):
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