Album Review: Ropewalk by The View

The View's fifth full-length studio album, 2015's Ropewalk, features more of the Scottish outfit's exuberant and lyrical post-punk sound. Produced by the Strokes' guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr., Ropewalk also includes production from Swedish-born engineer Gus Oberg (the Strokes, Moby, the Postelles) and mixing from Justin Gerrish (Vampire Weekend, Ra Ra Riot, the Strokes). The album follows up the band's well-received 2012 effort, Cheeky for a Reason, which reached number one on the U.K.

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That the release of ‘Ropewalk’ was delayed while frontman Kyle Falconer checked into the Hope Clinic in Thailand – the same rehab facility as Pete Doherty – to kick an addiction to drugs and alcohol, will do little to erase the old 2007 perception of The View as ‘Liberteens’ – four caners who worshipped the ground that Doherty had passed out on. It’s a shame, because the Dundonian band have proved themselves willing to chance their arm creatively – no more so than here.On their fifth album, producer Albert Hammond Jr – assisted by his longtime Strokes’ collaborator Gus Oberg – provides kindling for The View’s fire. His first job as boss was to rip up the demos Kyle and co brought.

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Now 10 years old, Dundee quartet The View may still only be in their twenties but did they peak too early? As teenage post-punk pretenders, their first album, the Mercury Prize-nominated, chart-topping Hats Off To The Buskers, was chock-full of ear-grabbing hooks, rollicking tunes and sing-along choruses shot through with hyperactive energy. After a messy, undercooked follow-up, the next two albums were not bad efforts but lacked the creative fizz of their debut. Now, after three years – the band’s longest gap between albums – their fifth offering, Ropewalk, tries a different tack.

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It seems like an awfully long time ago now that The View’s debut full-length, ‘Hats Off to the Buskers’, went straight in at Number One; in actual fact, it was as recently as 2007. The conditions were ripe for it to happen, of course; January’s a graveyard for new releases, and their ramshackle blend of Britpop and The Libertines certainly seemed to strike a populist chord. The Dundonians were, however, ill-rewarded for their ambition on 2009’s follow-up, ‘Which Bitch?’, and accordingly have seemed to shrink back into their comfort zone ever since; ‘Bread and Circuses’ and ‘Cheeky for a Reason’ were both uninspiring, and the release of a greatest hits collection in the form of ‘Seven Year Setlist’ in 2013 suggests they were simply in desperate need of a reason to tour.

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