Sunday Music: Fontaines D.C. "Romance"

I loved the first Fontaines D.C. record. Some of the songs made a few of my playlists (and that’s a habit I really should get back into). But then I drifted.

“Starburster” was the first teaser from the new record. I like crispy drums and that compressed “why are you suddenly an iron lung in my head” breathing apparatus thing. Freaky, but cool. The promise of the record captured my attention. When it came out in late August, I found I just kept putting it back on.

Their sound changed. Not in a bad way. But it changed in that it evolved. They drifted too. I checked the producer credits only to find James Ford. Ford’s one of those guys who makes me angry because we’re almost the same age and he’s so good at something I never got that good at. Gorillaz and Artic Monkeys and (some) Haim and (new) Blur and Pet Shop Boys are the things most people might know him for.

My most recent run-ins with him have been on the Depeche Mode records Spirit and Memento Mori. Not only do those records sound great, but they translate live, and, I don’t know how to say it except to say, Ford has something to do with that, you just know it when you hear them compared to the rest of the catalogue. Machines breath with him in a special way. And you can hear it as much when there’s a mellotron in the background or in the way his very acoustic instruments are presented.

Romance is less post-punk, and yet still, a very pre-modern alternative rock record presented in 2024. The mix of styles, the ambivalence to genre boundaries, and again, the sounds and instrument choices, applied to stand up the lyrics and vibes of “romance” as a subject, f***. This is a brilliant record.

Fontaines D.C. has real influence because they’ve really been influenced. They certainly have their biases, but they are broad, and deep, and curious. We don’t hear records this stacked with re-packed influences often.

Wait for the smolder to go full Depeche death synth on “Romance.” So good.

Have a Gorillaz-type drum anxiety attack to “Starburster.”

“Here’s the Thing” reminds me specifically of a buddy’s early ‘90s Boss multi-effects guitar pedal. Weird, and I get it, that’s too personal. So more broadly, hear the falsetto and range of this melody, the compressed-breathy cymbal/drum that gets pulsed, the sonic texture of the bass, how it’s all trapped in ‘90s imitations of the ‘80s in such a perfect way, not unlike that multi-fx pedal. Flock of Seagulls but on Factory Records almost.

The best thing about U2’s “Desire” is the way the syllables get chopped up, punched in, and stretched out over the backbeat. My favorite part about Fontaines’ “Desire” is the way the syllables get chopped up, punched in, and stretched out, over the backbeat.

Think Lana Del Rey (and not “this is like if Coldplay weren’t awful almost” which was my first reaction, sorry) when you hear “In the Modern World.”

“Bug” feels hauntingly metamorphosis, plus, the lovely Irish pronunciations of the words (“Carnegie Hall” and “charmless” alone, my god). And don’t even get me started on the bridge. Alt gone mainstream grungy in the best ways.

“Motorcycle Boy” shoutout to “Dirtbike Kid” by Sgt. Scagnetti even if they have absolutely nothing in common. What’s your bet Kendrick (or somebody in that mode) samples this intro?

Dreams are apparently a b****. Put it in the themes and variations file for later study. “Sundowner” brings some of the Gorillaz but with more Portishead (?) feels back into the record. The pulsed bass before the verse starts is as epic as the detuned meandering synthy strings in the background.

“Horseness Is the Whatness” wins the misread the title every time you see it award. The snare placement here, as an cymballic accent (yes, not symbolic) feels like it comes from a depth Wilco never quite hit.

“Death Kink” reminds me that, for all the kinky weirdness of House of Usher and Dionysus’ riffs from Kaos, the heroin chic of the late ‘80s into the ‘90s, with it’s piercingly distorted bursts and whispered screams, was more Pixies than any fantastical pixy. “S***, s***, s***.”

OK, people won’t wedding first dance to “Favourite,” probably like people (probably) didn’t first dance to the Replacements “Favorite Thing,” but the shoegazey goo that’s not Goo Goo-Replacements copping, it’s magical. I dare you to not get this one stuck in your head.

Did I just have an emotional reaction to every song on a record and want to play it again from the beginning?

Sure did. Great job guys. 10/10.

ps. additional shoutouts to Dave Nadig getting the new record on my radar here!