The View

In early 2007, Scottish band the View released their first album Hats off to the Buskers. Although this album never really made it’s way to America is was a huge hit in the U.K. and Asia. The View is considered to be pop punk and have been compared to Blink 182 for their lyrics and teenage angst but sound more like the Libertines in vocals and instrumentals. My favorite things about The View have always been their raw sounds, lyrics that sing true themselves, and how undeniably Scottish they are. One of the many hit tracks from Hats Off to the Buskers is “Wasted Little DJ’s” when instead of singing as you’d expect they use Pig Latin.

Just this past week on July 9th The View released their third album Cheeky For a Reason. Notice I have failed to mention the band’s sophomore album, and that would most definitely be for a reason. It was quite a flop, and neither myself nor other fans of the View were impressed. After a few years passing since their last release it seemed like it was time to give this new album a chance. Although I don’t like it as much as Hats Off to the Buskers, it is a step up from their second album. By far the best track of the album is “Hole in the Bed”, which is actually sung by Kieren Webster who is not usually the band’s front man but rather the bassist. This song has a powerful sound, and is still sticking to their roots with strong Scottish accents prevailing.

Cheeky For A Reason did not entirely live up to my optimistic expectations however. The lyrics lost a lot of the innocence, truth, and over all relatable qualities that The View had in the past. The sounds of this album are clean and appear to have been changed by coaching or training. In this case, it’s not really an improvement but rather a loss of the unique sound they had. In “Tacky Tattoo”, lead singer Kyle Falconer draws out many of the notes like a professionally trained singer would. For someone who has never listened to The View before this may go unnoticed but it left me slightly disappointed.

There aren’t many qualities that create a stand out sound for The View in Cheeky for a Reason but it is still good album if you’re looking for something new and decent to listen to. And if you’re not too hip to listen to older music then you may even want to listen to Hats Off to the Buskers.