THE VIEW -- hats off to the buskers

WVFI just got the newer-than-new, yet-to-be-released album by The View this week. Not surprisingly, they've been around the UK for awhile and, ever since being musically tied to Pete and Babyshambles, have gotten to be a hit. So with the album now out in the UK, it's time for them to try out the States and be completely underappreciated. (sigh, the patterns I see...)

It's an (only rather) lo-fi rock album, produced by Owen Morris, a guy who has worked with both Oasis and The Verve -- talk about Brit-Pop legendariness. Now it's 2007 and now it's The View. A mix of fragile, vocal-centric songs (think Babyshambles) sit alongside classic-sounding rock tunes (think The Kinks). The album Hats Off to the Buskers has it all!

Honestly, I had expected different things, mostly for it to be an album more in the indie rock-vein of Razorlight or Kaiser Chiefs. But it shows more musical restraint than most albums, not going too guitar-heavy or relying too much on the vocal line. I would definitely classify this as modern Brit-Pop. If that means anything to you...

I think it's not supposed to be released in the US till March 13 (corrections welcomed) but listen for it on WVFI in the next few weeks!! And they'll be playing at Schuba's in Chicago on 07 March 2007. The whole album is worth a listen, but...

You might especially like:
"Comin' Down"
"Skag Trendy"
"Gran's For Tea"
"Dance All Night"
"Wasteland"