I was visiting my brother and sister-in-law in Washington DC a few weekends ago (absolutely splendid time) and he started playing me a few songs off a few playlists he put together. My brother has always had an incredible ear for new and interesting music, stuff that’s sort of off the beaten path while still being catchy as hell, and as soon as he started playing Fontaines D.C.’s new album Romance I could tell he hit another one out of the park. The story of how he discovered the band is kind of funny– he moved to Washington DC in January of this year, initially saw the band name, and thought they were a local band so he dove in headfirst. Of course he quickly realized they’re from Dublin (the first time you hear the vocalist sing it kinda gives it away) but he stayed committed to the cause and burned through the album, especially after hearing that Elton John was a big fan of these guys.
Romance is a great eclectic post-punk album that covers a ton of sonic ground. It’s almost as if Coldplay’s ear for hooks got combined with Joy Division’s brooding darkness and The Velvet Underground’s knack for storytelling. I really enjoyed this album from start to finish and am certainly going to come back to it again in the near future.
Standout Songs: “Starburster”, “Here’s The Thing”, “Desire”, “In The Modern World”, “Favourite”
