So the View are back, a little less fresh faced than before but no less eager to smash through the second album barrier and move towards music maturity. The good news is that this is, in parts, a fine album. The bad news is it struggles to match their outstanding debut due to a few rogue tracks and generally failing to reach the zeniths of before.
Opener ‘Typical Time 2’ follows on from the previous albums closer ‘Typical Time 1’ and is a pleasant little harmonica inspired track which warms us up nicely. The album’s singles ‘5 Rebbeccas’ and ‘Shock Horror’ are classic View – big, brash and with a sing-along which is more suited to their local pub in Dryburgh than Brixton Academy. However they just lack a little something which ‘Wasted Little DJs’ and ‘Superstar Tradesman’ had in spades.
Perhaps it is startling mix of under and over production which makes this a lesser album to their previous work. ‘Realisation’ is a slow burner with rough vocals which makes it sound low quality rather than more genuine while ‘Distant Doubloon’ is a bold break from the norm which ends up sounding very odd indeed with its Disney-esque pianos.
There’s plenty of belting full-on rock songs to keep the loyal fans happy though. ‘Jimmy’s Crazy Conspiracy’ has the best chorus of the album and ‘Double Yellow Lines’ is the perfect sing-along for the end of the night taxi ride home.
What’s frustrating is that while the album has some superb tracks you constantly feel that it lacks the sparkle of ‘Hats off to the Buskers’. ‘Unexpected’ isn’t a patch on ‘Streetlights’ and ‘Covers’ is a pale imitation of ‘Claudia’. If this was a debut album it would be hailed as a big success, but it’s too easy to see that they don’t hit the heights of before.
Perhaps it’s a case of The View setting the bar too high first up. A decent but unspectacular second album, then.
