Scottish indie-rockers the View have only been releasing their catchy tunes since 2006. With thousands of shows and four albums under their belts, including a number one debut in 'Hats Off To The Buskers', the boys have decided that the time is right for a Greatest Hits compilation spanning their relatively short career.
With the inclusion of three brand new songs, 'Seven Year Setlist' is a stormer of a 21-track album packed full of the View's singles, both well known and slightly more obscure.
The album opens with a brand new track, Kill Kyle, a slow starter that opens up into a trademark sing-a-long chorus. It follows in the same vein as the band's last studio album, 'Cheeky For A Reason' and could've easily been left over from the recording sessions. It's not a bad intro, but a classic song might've been a better option for a Greatest Hits collection.
Track two begins the adventure into the back catalogue, with Grace from 2011’s ‘Bread and Circuses’, before making way for Wasted Little DJs, the band's first proper single from 2006.
All the singles make an appearance, from debut EP track Face For The Radio through Superstar Tradesman, Same Jeans, The Don, Skag Trendy, 5 Rebeccas, Shock Horror and Temptation Dice from 2009’s ‘Which Bitch?’, Sunday, Grace, How Long, The Clock and all the way up to their last release, Tacky Tattoo.
It's not just the classic songs that make a dent. Along with Kill Kyle, Dirty Magazine and brand new single, Standard, are featured. All three new tracks reunite the band with producer Owen Morris (Oasis and The Verve), who worked with the band on their Mercury Prize-nominated debut. Standard is a great choice to launch this album, showing off both their newly-developed sound without losing the aspects that made their name.
Aside from the obvious hits from ‘Hats Off For The Buskers’, the highlights without a doubt come from last year's ‘Cheeky For A Reason’. The album was the product of a seasoned and more mature band, with Kyle Falconer’s vocals providing a real treat, particularly on the more mellow tracks featured on this compilation. That skillfully developed sound, mixed with the catchy indie-rock from the earlier days, shows a real progression in the View’s career and delivers an album that’s full of all the band's best bits.
‘Seven Year Setlist’ is a fantastic collection of songs from a band that, at points in their career, have been both over-hyped and overlooked. We all loved Same Jeans at some point, before getting bored of hearing it everywhere, but not enough people have paid attention to the View’s recent offerings, which are some of the best songs the band have produced.
If this is the sound of the band to come, then they’ve still got a long career ahead of them. If ever a Greatest Hits album highlighted a band's growth, progression and talent, then this is definitely it.
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