IT FEELS like only yesterday that The View first burst onto the scene with their debut album Hats Off To The Buskers. Ten years on, it still holds a special place in the hearts of the indie generation. Choosing to mark the anniversary with a tour around the UK, it speaks volumes of the album’s continued appeal and undoubted longevity that the band have sold out a record-breaking six nights at King Tuts this month, aswell as a couple of gigs at the legendary Barrowlands in May where they will perform the record in full.
Released on 22nd January 2007, right in the midst of the infamous indie rock boom of the mid- noughties, Hats Off To The Buskers carried The View to number one in the UK charts and saw them rather emphatically tagged as ‘The Scottish Arctic Monkeys’. In an era that ultimately became synonymous with the term ‘landfill indie’ due to the overwhelming amount of guitar bands and Libertines pretenders that were emerging at the time, the Dundee foursome were able to gather an impressive cult-like following around Scotland and much further afield thanks to popular tracks such as ‘Same Jeans’, ‘Superstar Tradesman’ and ‘Wasted Little DJs’.
How did they succeed where others failed though? Opening with the brashly unapologetic ‘Comin’ Down’, their debut album swelled with a stirring passion and brazing attitude that captured the unbridled thrill of youth from start to finish. Kyle Falconer took on the mantle from Pete Doherty as fresh-faced urban poet; his quick-witted observations and barely decipherable east coast drawl eliciting a sharp lyrical eye. There was something inherently Scottish and, more importantly, relatable about his tales of disaffected youth in Dundee; above all, they were the local boys who done good.
Produced by Owen Morris, who had previously worked with Oasis, it was an album that flourished in a post-Libertines and Definitely Maybe world; nostalgic yet gloriously guilt-free all at once. It was their instinctive gift for melody that stood them apart from their contemporaries; ‘Same Jeans’ may have skyrocketed up the UK charts but the album was full of addictive pop hooks, jagged guitars and huge anthems from the folky ‘Don’t Tell Me’ to the acoustic ‘Face For The Radio’ to the ska-tinged ‘Wasteland’.
With five studio albums now under their belt, Hats Off To The Buskers continues to stand as The View’s magnum opus in many ways. Having toured relentlessly over the years, its popular tracks still elicit the same frenzied response from crowds as they did ten years ago. And while they have never matched the commercial success of those early days, the band continue to sell out gigs up and down the country with ease. With a cult following that doesn’t seem to be dying down anytime soon, The View have proved that they are still a force to be reckoned with in Scotland’s music scene.
