Fontaines D.C. “A Hero’s Death”

sfilzen — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 18:31:28 +0000

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.

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Fontaines D.C. “Dogrel”

sfilzen — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 19:57:17 +0000

Fontaines D.C. “Dogrel” 2019. Partisan Records. Dark, noisy, jangly post-punk from Dublin, Dogrel is Fontaines D.C.’s debut record and I absolutely love it! I remember hearing the single “Boys in the Better Land” a couple of years ago on one of our local community radio stations and immediately noting the band’s name on my console’s display to check out ASAP. I’m not sure the album made big inroads into the US market but Dogrel hit huge in the UK, going to #9 and to #4 in both Ireland and Scotland. Most of the tracks are hard-rocking, beat driven overlaid with Brian Chatten’s distinctly flat (but appealing!) almost-speaking vocals and echoey guitars that call to mind first-wave post punks like Bauhaus, The Cure, etc. (see especially “The Lotts” which is especially gothy). I have a lot of top tracks because the record is so damn good! “Boys in the Better Land” of course (which I recall hearing is a commentary on anti-immigrant sentiment), but also “Too Real” and “Chequeless Reckless” (both lamenting the pitfalls of unchecked capitalism: “money is the sandpit of the soul”), “Hurricane Laughter” and “Liberty Bell” which is a surfy-60’s punk pop bopper.

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Fontaines D.C. “A Hero’s Death”

Fontaines D.C. “Dogrel”