Description
The Irish troubadours come good on a debut album that offers both a storyteller’s narrative voice and a snarling new vision of youthful disillusionment
“A sellout is someone who becomes a hypocrite in the name of money.” Punk’s obsession with authenticity might be long storied, but few have addressed it quite like Fontaines D.C. frontman Grian Chatten – a matter-of-fact definition, delivered in a sneering lilt. The Dublin band might have made a song-and-dance of their lyrical inspirations – ‘Dogrel’ itself is named after a form of Irish working-class poetry – but, to date, their stream of singles have focussed on white-knuckle speed and rumbling bass.
‘Dogrel’ proves that early-days pinning as punk’s next great hope was perhaps premature – there’s far more to Fontaines D.C. than your typical thrashed-out, pissed-off young rebellion.