Reviewed by: Dom Passantino
Reviewed on: 2007-01-26

Posted 01/26/2007 - 07:02:12 AM by NickSouthall:
	Genius + hate = Dom Passantino.
Posted 01/26/2007 - 07:09:02 AM by meatbreak:
	More reviews like this please. Genius. Bury this band now, please.
Posted 01/26/2007 - 08:43:35 AM by Alistair101:
	Thanks for your informative review - it really helped me to make up my mind about whether to buy the album or not. I was particularly pleased that most of your 'bingo' remarks were wrong (e.g. No.1 they sing in a broad Dundee accent because, shock horror on your part, that's where they're from). Another piece of useless writing on the most snobbish internet site around. Why do you bother to write this stuff when we already have WORD magazine?
Posted 01/26/2007 - 09:19:14 AM by meatbreak:
	Because it's fuckin' funny that's why, and The View ain't even worth the time Mr Passantino has spent on them. What a succinct guide to corporate indie this is - Brevity being the soul of wit and all. Nice to see you only managed to pick him up on 1 out of 24 points. Guess that raises their score to a D+. Also, this review is pretty informative - 24 distinctly seperate points about a band I'd struggle to find five things worth writing about. How's that not informative? You want to know what they sound like? You seem to already know, except I haven't heard the Dundeeness in their vocals too much, considering how hard the singer's trying to Gallagher it up. Points 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 17, 18 and 22 are where you want to look for an in-depth musical analysis I think. You've got to wonder why this band are doffing their caps to the buskers, huh? What have they got that the View don't? A decent rendition of the Pink Panther theme on sax? Come on man, enjoy yourself - it's a Friday!
Posted 01/26/2007 - 09:49:55 AM by blackrooster:
	Very good. Up there with the Jet pitchfork one. Although dissapointed to see the futureheads feature twice in your bingo as I would say they are 100 classes above the bobbins like the view, automatic, fratellis, razorlight, kooks, ...
Posted 01/26/2007 - 10:07:06 AM by Brooon:
	brilliant review
Posted 01/26/2007 - 10:14:52 AM by Alistair101:
	03. Band plays “good ol' fashioned rock 'n' roll.” How terrible - hang them all. Just because this web-site doesn’t praise anything that you can feel – only music that you have to think about with your logarithm tables – doesn’t mean other people don’t like to get their rocks off. 05. Band has re-released a single. No it hasn’t. 08. Band has songs about dancing you can't actually dance to. Eh? Does that mean ‘Digsy’s Dinner’ is rubbish because you can’t eat it? 11. Band lyrically references drugs using out-of-date slang terms. Sorry for not being so incredibly cool and hip and up-to-date like you wild cats. Perhaps, just maybe, different things are known by different slang in different areas? 17. Band includes “quirky” musical instruments on “wide-ranging” debut album. What’s quirky about guitars, bass, drums and a harmonica? 18. Band has the ghost of Cast nodding down appreciatively over proceedings. Why? Because Cast played guitars, bass, drums and a harmonica too? 22. Band attempts Oasis-style sing-along choruses scuppered by the band's inability to write a tune. Did they attempt this? Yes I do have an idea of what they sound like because I saw them supporting someone else last year. I bought the singles and liked them but wanted to know if there was anything else worth buying the album for. Is that such an unreasonable thing to ask of a review?
Posted 01/26/2007 - 10:45:16 AM by toddburns:
	Alistair101, you're correct that the View haven't re-released a single. That's why it's the only box that isn't checked off on the card.
Posted 01/26/2007 - 11:21:26 AM by meatbreak:
	If you like unimaginative pedestrian pub rock, sure go for it. Digsy's Diner (don't make me get pedantic on you, please) is rubbish because is so banal with such trite lyrics even Noel regrets including it. I'm fairly sure Stylus writers like to get their rocks off, and not all that cerebrally either, it just takes more than a string of hackneyed chord changes to do it for them. Me too. In actual fact, Stylus writers seem to be among the most adept at expressing the emotive, qualities and feel of a record (See the Goslings, Wold and Deerhoof reviews if you don’t believe me). Music doesn't have to be sedentary and cliched to fit into the 'good ol' fashioned rock and roll' bracket, but it helps. The difference between the derogatory definition of that term, and the one that gets me excited in the too-tight-denim area are approximately The View and errr...hmm..no, didn't old fashioned rock and roll stop being exciting the moment it became middle-aged and content to be Married With Children? There is nothing snobbish about raising your levels of expectation for the capabilities of music to transcend everyday tedium. That's what rock and roll was for originally, and surely the thing to take from it is that spirit, not simply come along without a spark of fire in your belly and rehash stuff without injecting anything novelly flammable or caustic into it. Cast are used as an example of the sheer lack of thought and cynicism that goes into a lot of corporate music because they embodied it so perfectly in the 90’s and are probably Don’s most assured point of reference. Why is it that people resent their entertainment being challenging?
Posted 01/26/2007 - 11:33:19 AM by grandbanks:
	Don't mean to gang up here, Alistair101, but you're kind of begging for it. A few points. 1. Stylus is far from the snobbiest site out there. Can't please everybody, but I think Stylus goes pretty far in attempting to be broad-minded without being a shill factory. What's unreasonable is expecting someone to provide you with something they did not discover upon listening to the record, which is "anything else worth buying the album for." If you want validation for your tastes then join the fanclub. Where do these overly defensive readers come from? Have you missed the reviews praising good ole fashioned rock and roll? (i.e. Hold Steady love-in) Have you missed the pop-reviews praising the bone-headed beauty in perfectly brainless chartage? If so, you are only reading what you want to when it is convenient to your own sensibilities, something you are all too ready to accuse this reviewer of. I am sick of this shit, grow up and fucking pay attention. Dom, great and inventive review, pretty much exposed the "logarithm tables" most assuredly used to concoct this album.
Posted 01/26/2007 - 11:37:58 AM by grandbanks:
	Shit, I guess what Meatbreak said would have sufficed, but I was writing away. Ehh, enough time wasted on this. Alistair, probably all anyone on this list would love to do is play you some better records by people who deserve your money more than this band, believe it or not. It ain't because they want to one-up you, it's because they really believe it.
Posted 01/26/2007 - 09:25:03 PM by Sumptuous:
	Hmmm. I bought it by accident and would agree its hardly the dogs bollocks, but they are only wee lads after all. Barely 80 years between them. First songs got good energy, but its pretty much downhill after that, and I'm not averse to a bit of pub rock now and again. Enjoyed the review, but I can't help but feel sorry for them after a roasting like that. They don't don't seem old and wise enough to deserve it. Oh, and I studied in Dundee, so while I would agree his accent is a bit wonky, it's definetly Dundonian
Posted 01/26/2007 - 09:27:16 PM by Sumptuous:
	Oh. I forgot to say. Is it standard practice to lick the reviewers arse?
Posted 01/28/2007 - 09:13:46 AM by alexachang:
	>Digsy's Diner (don't make me get pedantic on you, please) It was Digsy's "Dinner" you useless cunt.
Posted 01/29/2007 - 01:29:26 AM by IanMathers:
	Funny, the back of my copy of Definitely Maybe lists it as "Digsy's Diner," but allmusic has "dinner." Can we avoid namecalling over Oasis song titles, please?
Posted 01/29/2007 - 07:26:45 AM by Iain.F:
	I have both a UK and US copy here (not both mine, honest) and they do indeed have different titles printed on them! UK is Dinner, US Diner in case you were wondering.
Posted 01/29/2007 - 07:59:18 AM by meatbreak:
	The song so bad they named it twice, eh?
Posted 01/29/2007 - 01:01:46 PM by grandbanks:
	Sumptuous, it's fine to have an opinion, and it's fine for kids to want to spend their time constructively. Maybe things are different in England, but in America there is a wave of kids growing up believing that they can be anything they want to be. In theory that's great, but there are scores of kids who don't get that they are barking up the wrong tree. Why contibute to the self-fleecing of the world? Life is short, call it like it is. The Subways were "shite" and made it briefly on the radio over here because of the British hype and a lot of ad dollars. Their "youthful and exuberant rock" was totally mindless and boring as fuck and the fact that they were young and didn't know any better doesn't make it a good product. The View suck too, and the time spent reading this review is infinitely more entertaining than this record, which is why we are "licking the arse" of the reviewer. Don't reinforce negative behavior.
Posted 02/01/2007 - 03:38:57 AM by Alistair101:
	Grandbanks: 'Don't reinforce negative behaviour'!!!!!!!!! Hold on, this is the most negative review ever written and all you have done is praise it to the hilt. I think that is what upset me most the fact that someone had spent so much effort and time putting together something so completely negative and cynical. Like you say life is too short for that.
Posted 02/10/2007 - 06:41:12 PM by grandbanks:
	Whoa, fuck that shit. No one is reading this anymore, don't know why I am, but Alistair, you miss the point. Dom's negativity has a purpose, which is to comment on the industry at large in relation to this tepid product. Some of us use our critical faculties and think about this shit a lot, so a record can actually make us mad. A little silly, but no more silly than getting mad at anything else. Positivity is great and all, but sometimes you need to expose something for what it is (and of course an opinion is just an opinion). I dislike Dom's reviews sometimes, as he is maddeningly inconsinstent, but such is fandom. The negative behavior here is all perpetrated by the industry and the band (to a slightly lesser degree). You may not like Dom for trashing this record in such an entertaining (and yes, cynical, way), but you should really be asking yourself whether his cynicism might not be earned. I praise and criticise pretty equally, I think. Can't find many complaints with this. As I have said, there are plenty of other places to find an opinion more to your liking.
Posted 03/07/2007 - 08:10:36 PM by salami-nipples:
	Ha, what an inventive review.
Posted 06/06/2007 - 06:11:15 PM by isitfriday:
	If you are a fan of The View, check out this great contest where you can win a trip to see the band live T In The Park! Enter here: http://www.columbiarecords.com/contest/theview/flyaway/