Ahead of the release of their debut album ‘Dogrel’ and with a North American tour announced, Dublin’s Fontaines D.C. have had a barnstorming year with a salvo of fantastically abrasive singles, most recently the Fall-like skitter of ‘Too real’.
My favorite though was ‘Chequeless Reckless’, echoey, visceral post-punk rhythms, urgent guitars and topped by frontman Grian Chatten’s absolutely incendiary sneering diatribe about phoneys and money being the root of evil all delivered in a thick Irish accent that couldn’t care less, couldn’t give an arse whether you agree or not it’s an attitude that recalls Mark E Smith or even Shane Mcgowan.
Intersecting a caustic sound redolent of The Skids and PiL’s ‘Public Image Limited’ taking a detour to Dublin. Bold, bolshy, literate and abrasive and exactly the kind of defiant soundtrack to this era of corrupt capitalism of gentrification, compromised leaders and corporate greed. F*CKING GREAT. They’ve been supporting Idles this year and with an unrelenting arsenal of songs, that will form a debut album that’s already in the can and a fearsome live show, you can bet your life on Fontaines D.C. searing themselves onto your consciousness throughout 2019!
‘Dogrel’ is available on Partisan Records from April 12th.
Bill Cummings GOD IS IN THE TV
Cover Photo Credit: Molly Keane
