As far as Indie goes.. this is good! (Hats Off To The Buskers - The View)

Member Name: dangaroo

Product:	Hats Off To The Buskers - The View
Date:	13/07/09 (20 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lively Scots with good lyrics

Disadvantages: Not all songs are winners

Whilst waiting for the most recent The View album to be added to the list of reviewable items, I thought I'd go a little bit off track and give The View's debut "Hats Off to the Buskers" a spin.

With so many indie bands in the UK, it's sometimes hard to know where to start when looking for good ones and the whole genre can become pretty tiresome, that isn't to say that there aren't still some good bands though. Prior to this my favourite Dundee band was now extinct horror punk band Dirty Wee Middens, these guys certainly come close there with their upbeat, raucuous garage like sound. Gate crashing guitars smash into the party whilst the slur heavy vocals are almost inaudible at times but give off a distinct loose rock n roll aura.

There are times though (Superstar Tradesman for instance) where the vocals are clean and easy to understand, this is typical of the band's slower songs which incidentally are very well placed in the album to give you a little breather from the faster-paced tunes. The band can sound rather brash at times, some may even say chaotic (Wasted Little) but I think that this burst of energy makes a pleasant change at a time when indie bands have as much umph as a choir for docile midgets.

I personally rate the drumming very highly, Steven Morrisson really gives it some welly on a lot of the tracks but can also hold back with equal aplomb. As far as indie music goes, this really is pretty good. The band also manage to sneak in a bit of wittyness (Same Jeans and Wasted Little Djs) which brings cheeriness to the album.

1 Coming Down
2 Superstar Tradesman
3 Same Jeans
4 Dont Tell Me...
5 Skay Trenchy
6 Don
7 Face for the Radio
8 Wasted Little DJS
9 Grans for Tea
10 Dance into the Night
11 Claudia
12 Street Lights
13 Wasteband
14 Typical Time
15 Posh Boys [*]
16 Skay Trenchy [Live][*]
17 Same Jeans [Live][*]

Summary: A good listen