The View counteract any charges that they're too prim or polite -- better still, too normal -- by getting weirdly ambitious on
Which Bitch?, the 2009 sequel to their Mercury-prize nominated 2007 debut,
Hats Off to the Buskers. The record skips into view with a sprightly piano-and-harmonica ditty called "Typical Time 2," and its deliberate, self-conscious quirkiness is a better indication of where the heart of their sophomore effort lies than "5Rebbeccas," the blast of
Libertines-styled punk romanticism that follows.
The View still follow the path carved out by
Pete Doherty and
Carl Barat, along with the brothers
Gallagher, but where their hero worship was a bit too pat on
Hats Off to the Buskers, it's all part of a messy pastiche of serious British rock of the last 25 years: they bounce beguilingly on "Temptation Dice," roll along on a tense minor-key on "Glass Smash," shuffle down to the music hall on "Jimmy's Crazy Conspiracy," allude to
XTC's "Ten Feet Tall" on "Realization," and thread in echoey '80s post-punk guitars to act as a counterpoint to the '90s dad-rock guitar roar. It's enough ambition and attitude to suggest that the View are serious about being taken seriously, which is the appeal of
Which Bitch? and also its Achilles heel: it all sounds good enough of the surface but dig a little deeper and there's not much there, just overly stylized recycling and fuzzy songs.