Fontaines D.C. are an Irish

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

band formed in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

in 2017. The band consists of Grian Chatten (vocals), Carlos O'Connell (guitar), Conor Curley (guitar), Conor Deegan III (bass), and Tom Coll (drums). After meeting while attending music college, and bonding over a common love of poetry, the band began self-releasing singles and performing live regularly, signing to

Partisan Records Partisan Records is an independent record label with offices in London and Los Angeles, as well as in New York City, where the company was co-founded in 2007 by Tim Putnam and Ian Wheeler. The label, initially run out of Putnam’s South Brooklyn ...

in 2018. The band's debut album, ''

Dogrel ''Dogrel'' is the debut studio album by Dublin post-punk band Fontaines D.C. It was released through Partisan Records on 12 April 2019 on cassette, CD, digital download, and vinyl formats. The album was nominated for Album of The Year at the ...

'', was released on 12 April 2019 to widespread critical acclaim; it was listed as Album of the Year on the record store Rough Trade's website, voted Album of the Year by presenters on

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...

, and was nominated for both the

Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...

and the

Choice Music Prize The Choice Music Prize (), known for sponsorship reasons as the RTÉ Choice Music Prize is an annual music prize awarded to the best album from a band or solo musician who is born in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland or holds an Irish pa ...

. The band's second studio album, ''

A Hero's Death ''A Hero's Death'' is the second studio album by Irish post-punk band Fontaines D.C. The album was released on 31 July 2020 through Partisan Records, less than 18 months after the release of their debut album ''Dogrel''. The album received critic ...

'', was written and recorded in the midst of extensive touring for their debut, and was released on 31 July 2020. ''A Hero's Death'' was later nominated for Best Rock Album at the 2021 Grammy Awards. Their third album ''

Skinty Fia ''Skinty Fia'' is the third studio album by Irish rock band Fontaines D.C. It was released on 22 April 2022 via Partisan Records. Like the band's two previous albums – 2019's ''Dogrel'' and 2020's ''A Hero's Death'' – ''Skinty Fia'' was produ ...

'', released in 2022, became the band's first to reach number one on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

and

Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). The charts were previously compiled on behalf of IRMA by Chart-Track, and have been compiled by the ...

History

Formation

Carlos O'Connell, Conor Curley, Conor Deegan, Grian Chatten, and Tom Coll met while attending music college at

BIMM The British and Irish Modern Music Institute, now styled as the BIMM Institute, is a group of eight independent colleges which specialise in the provision of creative education in Brighton, Bristol, London, Dublin, Manchester, Berlin, Birmingha ...

The Liberties, Dublin The Liberties (Irish: ''Na Saoirsí'' or occasionally ''Na Libirtí'') is an area in central Dublin, Ireland, located in the southwest of the inner city. Formed from various areas of special manorial jurisdiction, separate from the main city g ...

. They bonded over a common love of poetry and collectively released two collections of poetry, one called ''Vroom'', inspired by the

Beat poets Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

(

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian a ...

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

) and another called ''Winding'', inspired by Irish poets (

Patrick Kavanagh Patrick Kavanagh (21 October 1904 – 30 November 1967) was an Irish poet and novelist. His best-known works include the novel '' Tarry Flynn'', and the poems "On Raglan Road" and "The Great Hunger". He is known for his accounts of Irish life t ...

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

). None of the published poems were translated into songs, but the track "Television Screens" on their debut ''Dogrel'' started out as a poem and was turned into a song. Lead singer Chatten is half-English (his mother is English and his father is Irish) and was born in

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...

, Cumbria but grew up in the

County Fingal Fingal ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which was disestablished for administrative purposes in 1994. ...

coastal town of

Skerries A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. Skerry, skerries, or The Skerries may also refer to: Geography Northern Ireland * Skerries, County Armagh, a townland in County Armagh * Skerry, County Antrim, a ...

, north of Dublin. Prior to starting Fontaines D.C., Chatten was a part of local

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

bands Gun Runner and Thumbprint, serving as a drummer and guitarist/singer respectively. Coll and Deegan hail from

Castlebar Castlebar () is the county town of County Mayo, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Developing around a 13th century castle of the de Barry family, de Barry family, from which the town got its name, the town now acts as a social and economic focal poi ...

in County Mayo, while Curley is from

Emyvale Emyvale, known before the Plantation of Ulster as Scarnageeragh (), is a village and townland in the north of County Monaghan, Ireland. It is on the main Dublin to Derry and Letterkenny road, the N2, about north of Monaghan and south of Au ...

in County Monaghan, and O'Connell grew up in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, Spain. Deegan is regularly seen wearing

Mayo GAA The Mayo County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( ga, Cumann Luthchleas Gael Coiste Maigh Eo) or Mayo GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Mayo and the Mayo coun ...

clothing during live performances. The band got their name from a character in the movie ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, ...

'' called Johnny Fontane, a singer and movie star portrayed by

Al Martino Al Martino (born Jasper Cini; October 7, 1927 – October 13, 2009) was an American singer and actor. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid-1970s, being described as "one of the great Italian American pop croone ...

. Fontane was godson of

Vito Corleone Vito Corleone (born Vito Andolini) is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' and in the first two of Francis Ford Coppola's film trilogy. Vito is originally portrayed by Marlon Brando in the 1972 film ''The Godfather ...

. Originally they were called The Fontaines, but they added the initials "D.C." when a band in Los Angeles had the same name. The initials D.C. stand for "Dublin City".

Early career

Fontaines D.C. started out self-releasing singles. In 2015 they were going to release their debut with music journalist John Robb's Louder Than War label. In May 2017, Fontaines released the single "Liberty Belle" followed by "Hurricane Laughter"/"Winter In the Sun". "Liberty Belle" is in homage to the Liberties, a neighbourhood in Dublin where many band members lived. In 2018, Fontaines released the single "Chequeless Reckless"/"Boys In The Better Land" and "Too Real". ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

'', who premiered "Chequeless Reckless" in early 2018, described their sound "a synthesis between post-punk, garage rock, and a kind of gritty, urbane sense of rhythm and narrative" and naming them a 'Band To Watch'. In May 2018, Fontaines played an in-studio at

KEXP KEXP-FM (90.3 MHz) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Seattle, Washington, United States, specializing in alternative and indie rock programmed by its disc jockeys for the Seattle metropolitan area. The station is owned by the non-p ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. In November 2018, the band signed with

. They released music videos directed by frequent collaborator Hugh Mulhern. The video for 2018's "Too Real" was inspired by

The Pogues The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my arse". T ...

's 1985 song, "

A Pair of Brown Eyes "A Pair of Brown Eyes" is a single by The Pogues, released on 18 March 1985. The single was their first to make the UK Top 100, peaking at Number 72. It featured on the band's second album, '' Rum Sodomy & the Lash'', and was composed by Pogues ...

" and the band

Gilla Band Gilla Band (formerly Girl Band) are an Irish post-punk and noise rock band from Dublin. It was founded in 2011 and comprises vocalist Dara Kiely, guitarist Alan Duggan, bassist Daniel Fox, and drummer Adam Faulkner. Their career began with the ...

, among other concepts. The 2019 video for the song Conor Curley co-wrote called "Roy's Tune" was directed by Liam Papadachi and was inspired by Curley's late night walks home from a job at a burrito shop. Fontaines received tour support from

Irish Arts Council The Arts Council (sometimes called the Arts Council of Ireland; legally ga, An Chomhairle Ealaíon) is the independent "Irish government agency for developing the arts." About It was established in 1951 by the Government of Ireland, to encour ...

which allowed them to tour internationally. They also received grant funding from

RTÉ 2fm (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

''Dogrel''

Fontaines DC am Haldern Pop Festival 2019 - 08 - Foto Alexander Kellner

On 12 April 2019, the band released their debut album ''Dogrel'' on Partisan Records. The title ''Dogrel'' is an homage to

Doggerel Doggerel, or doggrel, is poetry that is irregular in rhythm and in rhyme, often deliberately for burlesque or comic effect. Alternatively, it can mean verse which has a monotonous rhythm, easy rhyme, and cheap or trivial meaning. The word is deri ...

, working class Irish poetry – 'poetry of the people' – that dates back to 1630. It was popularised by

William McGonagall William Topaz McGonagall (March 1825 – 29 September 1902) was a Scottish poet of Irish descent. He gained notoriety as an extremely bad poet who exhibited no recognition of, or concern for, his peers' opinions of his work. He wrote about 2 ...

and later

Ogden Nash Frederic Ogden Nash (August 19, 1902 – May 19, 1971) was an American poet well known for his light verse, of which he wrote over 500 pieces. With his unconventional rhyming schemes, he was declared by ''The New York Times'' the country's best ...

. The record was recorded live on tape. The ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' said that "''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." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' gave the album a five-star review, hailing it as a "perfect debut", and commending Chatten for embracing the Dublin accent. Paul Duggan gave the album an unprecedented 10 bananas out of 10. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' said that "Shouty

bands are making a surprise comeback in 2019, with this brutal but articulate Irish bunch emerging as one of the most captivating. Capturing the feeling of living in Dublin as it balances historical weight with financial upheaval, the singer Grian Chattan makes his statement of intent by announcing in a monotone rant on the opener, Big: “Dublin in the rain is mine, a pregnant city with a Catholic mind."" In 2019, the band extensively toured fifty cities throughout Ireland, Europe, and North America. They have toured with

Shame Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion often associated with negative self-evaluation; motivation to quit; and feelings of pain, exposure, distrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness. Definition Shame is a discrete, basic emotion, d ...

and Idles. They played nine sets at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

2019 over the course of five days, selling out venues, and count

as a major influence. They were the musical guest on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

'' on 1 May 2019, performing "Boys in the Better Land". They were supposed to perform at the

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

in 2020; This was going to be the festival's 50th anniversary but it had to be cancelled due to the increasing concerns over the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. On 14 July 2020, they performed a live set from Dublin's iconic

Kilmainham Gaol Kilmainham Gaol ( ga, Príosún Chill Mhaighneann) is a former prison in Kilmainham, Dublin, Ireland. It is now a museum run by the Office of Public Works, an agency of the Government of Ireland. Many Irish revolutionaries, including the leade ...

as part of the live television series Other Voices. The recording of the performance was released on vinyl as a limited edition release for Record Store Day on 12 June 2021 and later as a surprise digital release on 26 November 2021.

''A Hero's Death''

The band released their second album on 31 July 2020, titled ''

''. The band released the title track on 5 May 2020; the music video features actor

Aidan Gillen Aidan Murphy (born 24 April 1968), better known as Aidan Gillen (), is an Irish actor. He is the recipient of three Irish Film & Television Awards and has been nominated for a British Academy Television Award, a British Independent Film Award, a ...

. Chatten described the single as "a list of rules for the self". Three further singles were released from the album: "I Don't Belong", "Televised Mind" and "A Lucid Dream". The band returned to ''The Tonight Show'' as musical guests, performing "A Hero's Death" on 28 January 2021. The album was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 2021

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

, but lost to

The Strokes The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1998, the band is composed of lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio More ...

' ''

The New Abnormal ''The New Abnormal'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band the Strokes, released on April 10, 2020, through Cult and RCA Records. It was their first full-length album since ''Comedown Machine'' (2013), marking the longest gap between st ...

''.

''Skinty Fia''

In January 2022, the band announced their third studio album ''

''. It was released on 22 April 2022. To coincide with the album's announcement, the band shared its lead single "Jackie Down the Line" with an accompanying music video. Toronto'
Spill Magazine
praised ''Skinty Fia'' as "an important album, perhaps the most important album of the year", hailin
it as a strong contender for 2022 album of the year

Band members

* Carlos O'Connell – guitar, backing vocals * Conor Curley – guitar, piano, backing vocals * Conor Deegan III – bass guitar, guitar, backing vocals * Grian Chatten – lead vocals, tambourine * Tom Coll – drums, percussion, guitar Touring members * Cathal Mac Gabhann – guitar (2023)

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Live albums

Singles

Other charted songs

Awards and nominations

Works and publications

* ''Vroom'' (self-published) – poetry

chapbook A chapbook is a small publication of up to about 40 pages, sometimes bound with a saddle stitch. In early modern Europe a chapbook was a type of printed street literature. Produced cheaply, chapbooks were commonly small, paper-covered bookle ...

* ''Winding'' (self-published) – poetry chapbook

Notes

References

External links

* – official site
Fontaines D.C.
at

* {{Authority control Irish post-punk music groups Partisan Records artists Musical groups established in 2017 Musical groups from Dublin (city) 2017 establishments in Ireland