Fontaines D.C. “A Hero’s Death” 2020. Partisan Records. Dream-poppy/psychedelic post punk; their second LP. We saw Fontaines D.C. perform this past Sunday at The Sylvee in Madison (I won the tickets from the Sylvee’s Instagram) – our first time at that venue (it’s great!), my first time seeing Fontaines (Joe’s second). The show was….OK. The opener was [yawn] and Fontaines were fine. Both channeling a 90’s sloppy rave kid vibe. I didn’t have that high of expectations because I’ve found their last two releases (Skinty Fia, 2022 and Romance, 2024) to be lackluster and a bit boring. A Hero’s Death is pretty good, though not as exciting as their debut Dogrel (2019). Definitely more psychedelic with some good rocking moments. It went to #2 in the UK and hit #44 on the US Indie chart; it was nominated for a Grammy in 2021 and received widespread critical acclaim including 5 out of 5 stars from The Guardian. As is my preference, my top picks are the rockers. “Televised Mind” is great psych rock, and while pretty messy, I also like the upbeat swirly tracks “A Lucid Dream” and “Living in America” plus the Velvet-esque “I Was Not Born.” They released two singles from A Hero’s Death: the downbeat and angular opener “I Don’t Belong” which only charted in their native Ireland at #86, and the title track “A Hero’s Death” which is one of my other favorites from the LP – it’s an odd pick for a single with a driving beat, fuzzy psych guitars, and some ooo-aaa harmony backing vocals behind more spoken than sung vocals. That track sort of charted – going to #67 on the UK “Download Singles” chart, to #90 in Ireland and #30 in Scotland.