(1965 Records / Red Label)

Utterly cliched, moronically retro; frustratingly likeable debut from Scots upstarts

Trudging through the back alleys of Dundee, Scotland, 1965 Records’ knew something hair-covered, scummy and ever so slightly tasty had attached itself to the sole of their shoe. All this scummy piece of gunk needed was a bit of a hose down and a vigorous scrub with Phisohex before ‘65’ realised they had trodden on The View – a shamelessly McRetro four-piece who look like a pile of unwashed potatoes and sound like Jet lovingly straddled by The Fratellis. Their Owen Morris-produced debut album, Hats Off To The Buskers, is an incendiary wank of the zeitgeist originally sparked and just as swiftly extinguished last year by Arctic Monkeys. And like Turner’s Sheffield, The View’s Dundee is heavily accentuated by frontman Kyle Falconer’s lyrical landscape. During songs like Superstar Tradesman, Skag Trendy and the embarrassingly infectious Brimful of Asha-esque Same Jeans, Hats’ deals with everything on the Dundee streets from the local boozers and their DJ’s, right down to the piles of steaming dog shit polka-dotting the pavement. Clichéd it may seem, you’ve got to take your, erm, Hats Off’ to The View and their incredible McKnack for melody. Especially candescent on the annoyingly clever chorus of signature tune Wasted Little DJ’s with Falconer gruffly crooning Astedwae ittlae ejaysdae (Look at the letters closely kids – Anagrams Ed)…and this doesn’t even touch on the immediacy of Same Jeans. Many have called Arctic Monkeys a flash in the pan, and we’ll soon see. At the moment though, The View are flashing in so many pans it hurts, real bad.

***^½

JACK LANGRIDGE

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