The info and verdict on the Dublin post-punk band's new single 'Jackie Down the Line' and third album announcement.
We’ve barely had enough time to break those New Year Resolutions we had no intention of keeping when the first surprise of 2022 arrived. And for once it’s a welcome shock.
Fontaines D.C. are back. They sent us all an email to tell us in their own self depicting manner. "Sorry it’s not disco," they said. "We lied."
The Irish band announced album Skinty Fia is out in April which coincides with a tour of America. And they’ve signposted it with single ‘Jackie Down The Line.’
They’re right. It’s not a tune you’d hear at Studio 54. Instead, it has hints of the sound that made them their name, the poetic punk essence the band hate to be tagged with.
But now it’s polished in that way it wouldn’t sound out of place on an American alternative station in the early nineties. Think Pixies, REM, Sugar. Think vintage college radio.
Even the video takes you back to old school MTV with it’s fast cuts between the band playing amongst a stage of flowers and contemporary dancers.
But it’s not all cheesy smiles and Californian tans. There’s an underlying sense of dread to events as it burns like a lit fuse and you’re worried it’s going to go off at any moment. Singer Grian Chatten himself summed it up with the word "doom" and you get completely where he’s coming from.
You can’t blame them for wanting to take over the world and target the US as they do so. They’ve built up a live reputation second to none and now they’re on their third album in a four year period sandblasted by a pandemic. Fontaines D.C. are at that point in their career they’re worth making a song and dance about.
As long as it’s not disco.