Album Review: Fontaines DC - “A Hero’s Death”

 

Fontaines DC were one of those bands who I'll have to admit I never really "got" when they emerged on to the scene last year with their debut album Dogrel. While a lot of people were declaring their discordant take on smalltown angst to be the new Idles, to these ears they just sounded like a poor man's Fall ie a bit of a mess.

However, in the interim 12 months there has clearly been some progress in the Fontaines camp. A Hero's Death bears such little resemblance to their debut that it might as well be a different band altogether. Right from the gloomy drone of opener I Don't Belong which recalls the windswept moodiness of Echo & The Bunnymen as much as anything, it's clear that some serious artistic growth has taken place here and all of a sudden the band have gone from being over-hyped to suddenly justifying the positive press in an impressively short time.

The dark Love Is The Main Thing glides through on a dark wave of spaghetti western style guitars to increase the slightly gothy feel to the album. The Bunnymen influence remains strong throughout on tracks such as A Lucid Dream but elsewhere, Televised Mind could almost be Flowers of Romance era PIL or maybe a less horror film-obsessed Alien Sex Fiend and Oh Such A Spring recalls the more maudlin end of the Pogues' back catalogue. Even on the odd moment like the title track where they hark back to their debut slightly, the lyrics have gone from spiteful snarling to genuinely uplifting messages of hope. It's only on the likes of I Was Not Born where the slightly messy and disorganised Fontaines DC of old rear their heads to derail things slightly.

Overall though, colour me impressed. If there was an award for Most Improved Band of 2020 then Fontaines DC would be well in the running for it on this evidence. You can listen to A Hero's Death and decide for yourself at the Fontaines DC Bandcamp page.

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)

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