Whatever Happened To: The View

Al Shipley
·5 min read
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The post Whatever Happened To: The View appeared first on Consequence.

Whatever Happened To is a series where we dig into the history and happenings of music’s biggest disappearing acts. Today, we’re going on a search to find Scottish indie rock band The View.

The British rock press loves a Cinderella story, and in the mid-2000s, the Dundee, Scotland band The View were anointed the next big thing. Singer/guitarist Kyle Falconer, bassist Kieran Webster, guitarist Pete Reilly, and drummer Michael Annable were school chums who began playing covers together at student talent shows. But when they began writing their own songs and gigging more widely, they landed a spot opening for Babyshambles, and things took off quickly from there.

The average age of the members of The View was 19 when they received their first BBC Radio 1 airplay in early 2006, shortly before the release of their self-titled debut EP. Over the next year, the band experienced a meteoric rise. Their first single “Wasted Little DJ’s” was a chart hit, and the band played the Reading and Leeds Festivals, aired a special on MTV2 Europe, and jetted off for a handful of shows in America and Japan before they’d even released a full-length album.

A chant of “The View, The View, The View are on fire” became a tradition at the band’s shows, as captured at the end of the “Wasted Little DJ’s” video. And when The View entered the studio to record an album, they had a kingmaker of UK rock in their corner: Owen Morris, who’d produced Oasis’s (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?

In January 2007, the hype for The View reached a fever pitch as their debut album Hats Off to the Buskers debuted at No. 1 on the UK album chart and eventually went Platinum, with “Same Jeans” reaching No. 3 on the singles chart. “I’ve had the same jeans on for four days now, I’m going to go to a disco in the middle of the town,” the shaggy-haired, baby-faced Falconer sang on the band’s signature song, which featured both a twangy harmonica and a punky tempo change at the end. Hats Off to the Buskers went up against stiff competition like Amy Winehouse and Dizzee Rascal for the 2007 Mercury Prize, ultimately losing to The Klaxons.

Like many UK bands who were successful at home, The View looked at breaking America as a career goal. However, a scheduled full-scale American tour in support of Hats Off that had to be canceled after Falconer was arrested for cocaine possession in Dundee and U.S. immigration authorities refused to grant visas for the band’s visit. The band eventually did return to America, playing smaller clubs like The Troubadour in L.A. and the Knitting Factory in New York.

But without being able to tour the U.S. at the peak of their UK buzz, the band were never able to break into the Billboard charts like contemporaries such as the Arctic Moneys. It’s hard to imagine bringing up The View to an American who wouldn’t assume you’re talking about the TV show with Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar. Meanwhile, only three of the band’s five albums are available on streaming services in America.

For a time, The View gave Snow Patrol and Franz Ferdinand some competition for the biggest band out of Scotland since the heyday of Primal Scream and The Jesus and Mary Chain. But they weren’t quite able to sustain their debut’s level of success in the UK. The View’s 2009 sophomore album Which Bitch? stalled at Silver certification after the lead single “5 Rebbecca’s” missed the top 40 on the UK singles chart.

After the album’s release, original drummer Michael Annable left The View, with Steven Morrison joining in his place. And from there, each of the band’s albums charted a little lower than the last, although Falconer scored a hit guesting on Mark Ronson’s 2010 single “The Bike Song.”

The View remained the pride of Dundee, though, and all of their albums charted at No. 1 or No. 2 on the Scottish Albums chart. They performed at Scotland’s biggest festival, the T In The Park Festival, a record eight times. In 2015, The View released their 5th album Ropewalk, co-produced by Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. and frequent Strokes producer Gus Oberg.

In 2017, The View announced that they were going on a temporary hiatus, or in Falconer’s words “just a wee break,” after playing a handful of hometown shows at the end of the year. On December 1st, The View ended their last show at Caird Hall in Dundee with “Best Lasts Forever” from 2011’s Breads and Circuses. Kyle Falconer, now a married father of two, released his first solo album No Thank You in 2018.

Kieran Webster, who’d sung lead on several View songs including “Skag Trendy” and “Hole in the Bed,” formed a new band, WEB, which released its debut single “Haze” in 2020. Pete Reilly became a touring guitarist with Echo & The Bunnymen, and has self-released a series of “space rock” solo albums, most recently 2021’s Inversions.

In September 2020, The View fans received some encouraging news about the band’s future when it was announced that they’d signed with Creation Management, a company run by Alan McGee, founder of the iconic British indie label Creation Records. However, no further View news followed, and Falconer resumed his solo career, releasing his second solo album, No Love Songs For Laura, in summer 2021 and performing at the TRNSMT festival in Glasgow. Falconer told reporters that he’d spoken to Kieran Webster at the festival, once again sparking hopes that the band may someday return.

These days, The View’s official Twitter account primarily posts anniversaries of notable dates in the band’s career, and occasionally promotes Falconer’s solo concerts. One of the most recent tweets, on January 22nd, 2022, celebrated the anniversary of Hats Off to the Buskers: “Wow! 15 years! Dreams romance excess to say the least!!!!! This record changed our lives and a lot of other along the way!”

Whatever Happened To: The View
Al Shipley

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