The View // Which Bitch?

After having my ears spammed with Same Jeans last year, my expectations for this record were minimal – I am happy to report however, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s obvious from this album that The View have matured into a band that orders to be taken seriously – they duetted with Baby Shambles (minus Mr Doherty) for Diesel xXx at Matter in London, and their musical ability was not overshadowed by the more established band on stage with them. The quality and depth of the music has increased to an undeniably higher level, and this album gives the impression that The View aren’t just a quirky Scottish band, but a unique and now indisputably talented group of musicians. Track 3 impressed me massively – “One Off Pretender” sees singer Kyle Falconer engrossing in a vocal style reminiscent almost of Park Life. Addictive bass riffs a-plenty provides a real foot-tapping / head-bobbing (whatever you fancy) listening experience, and I found that there are no songs on the album that I’ve been inclined to skip over. “Unexpected” is quite a beautiful ballad – it’s so refreshing to hear the sound of strings opening up a song which blossoms effortlessly into a nearly haunting piece of music. The album starts fantastically but declines gradually into mediocrity – Track 14 begins/ends very bizarrely, and although Which Bitch? will never be hailed 'classic’, it’s a vast improvement on their previous album, and everyone deserves credit for effort.