Fontaines DC - Dogrel
Fontaines DC have had a remarkable start to their career, storming onto stages across the country, rapidly building a fanbase, and capturing the adulation of Steve Lemacq. They have the quality of 5-star performers and the song writing to carry it.
Dogrel opens raucously. Grian Chatten’s intimidatingly cool drone drives ‘Big’ while the bass and drums pound away in the background – it’s a war cry of a track. The album is a flurry of screeching guitar and commanding percussion. When combined with Chatten’s lyrical content, it is potent. Dogrel offers a comfortable unpredictability, walking the line carefully between commerciality and more experimental punk.
Grian Chatten spits ‘Sha, Sha, Sha’ with bile while the syncopated rhythm section sludges on with punishing conviction. The production feels stripped of sheen, creating a dry intimacy which makes every snare impact bite.
Despite the intensity, the LP still has moments of tenderness with ‘Roy’s Tune’ and ‘Dublin City Sky’. The latter features a cut down instrumental fronted by Chatten delivering a beautiful drawl: “hurry now you will, to know you is to love you and I love you even still” – an excellent closing track evoking traditional Irish melody as well as imagery of a city they all clearly love.
It’s hard to relish in the album tracks as much as the singles. ‘Chequeless Reckless’, ‘Liberty Belle’, ‘Boys In The Better Land’, ‘Hurricane Laughter’ and ‘Big’ stand-out by a mile. Whereas ‘Television Screen’ and ‘The Lotts’ don’t pack as much of a punch. Despite that, the album is one of the best offerings of the year so far. Sonic roughhousing with charm and beauty; an air of youthfulness with a healthy dose of maturity.
9/10
