The View

Honing their skills in the back room of a Dundee pub, the schoolmates Kyle Falconer, Kieren Webster and Pete Reilly (aka The View) got their big break when Pete Doherty was so impressed by a demo tape the band had slipped him before a Babyshambles gig, that he let them open the show that night. Snapped up by James Endeacott's label 1965 Records shortly afterwards, the sweetly mumbled harmonies and breakneck, indie pop head-rushes of early singles Wasted Little DJs and Superstar Tradesman were soon causing fevered excitement in the indie world. Same Jeans became a huge radio hit, crashing in at Number 3 in the UK singles charts, before debut album Hats Off To The Buskers (2007) went straight to Number 1 and was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. The band made notable appearances at Glastonbury, Radio 1's Big Weekend and Reading/Leeds Festival earning the crowd chant "The View, The View, The View are on fire..." But, despite getting to Number 4 in the UK charts, sales of second album Which Bitch? (2009) were poor and the lads were forced to rethink their approach.