One of the most brilliant things about music is that the law of diminishing returns is not universal. There are albums out there that retain the magic of their first listen right through to the 100th. Still, there's something sadly inevitable about just how mediocre this album turned out. The View's debut is yet another missive from a middle-class bunch of white kids who think singing songs about going out in an annoying regional accent makes them more authentic. Is there anything good left in this drained well? The intention here is obvious - The view want people to think that they're the missing link between The Kooks and Arctic Monkeys. The sad truth, though, is that they haven't got the energy, passion, melodies, or lyrical flair of either. At best, this is an honorable failure that occasionally manages to be fun; at worst, it's a cynical, soul-less, obvious attempt at jumping the post-Britpop post-punk-revivalist bandwagon. "Street Lights" offers a rare glimpse of a good song; the rest is forgettable.
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