Punk has always had voices striving for legitimacy, even when it wasn’t warranted. Being authentic while voicing the disenfranchised youth can be difficult for many punk bands, but with Ireland’s Fontaines D.C. it’s ingrained in who they are as a band. On their latest release Dogrel they prove they’re not only a force in punk, but those leading the charge as well.

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While the album has plenty of energetic vigor in the opener “Big” and the following track “Sha Sha Sha” has the feel of old school punk that was made by The Clash, there’s more here than just punk vibes with poignant lyricism. The bombastic tones of “Too Real” has the dissonant feel of youth lost in the world, but with that said the album really starts to open up with “Television Screens.” Fontaines D.C. in many ways starts to really take their own direction with this track, and they keep doing so throughout the rest of the album from this point. The melodic directive here takes their sound to a place away from cut and dry punk, and proves they’re more than just another punk band.

“Hurricane Laughter” keeps that going with plenty of gurgled energy, swayed guitar tones and poetic lyricism. The band digs you further in to the abyss with the dark notes of “The Lotts” before steering close to post-punk while still keeping their feet in the punk vein. “Chequeless Reckless” beings energy and lyrics that are a fuck you to the wealthy class, but it does so in a way that’s entertaining and intriguing while that energy stays high with “Liberty Belle” where the snappy stride makes the song hard to dislike before the backing vocals come in and take the track to a higher plane. There’s a lot to like with this record, it goes hard when it needs to but it also adds new ideas to a genre that could use them. In many ways, Fontaines D.C. are the shot in the arm that punk could use while offering it up in the most genuine way possible.

Dogrel is available to stream on all streaming sites, it can be purchased in all digital music retail sites and it can be bought in multiple bundles and physical formats directly from Partisan Records. Fontaines D.C. will be on tour starting tomorrow at Bodega in Nottingham, UK until December 08 at Vicar Street in Dublin, Ireland. A complete listing of their tour dates including in the United States can be accessed here. 

Image Credits: Photo by Daniel Topete.