Dublin, IE · post-punk · alt-rock

Fontaines D.C.

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Dublin's poet-punks grown into arena-scale alt-rock — 'Romance' made them era-defining, swagger and melancholy in equal Irish measure.

Fontaines D.C. formed in Dublin in 2014, the members meeting while studying at BIMM Dublin and bonding over poetry, even self-publishing two collections, Vroom and Winding, before turning to writing songs together. The band took its name from Johnny Fontane, the singer character in The Godfather, adding "D.C." for Dublin City after finding another band using the same name.

Grian Chatten sings in a flat, insistent Dublin accent over guitar interplay from Carlos O'Connell and Conor Curley, with Conor Deegan III on bass and Tom Coll on drums. Their early work drew on post-punk's driving repetition and on writing about the city itself.

They signed to Partisan Records in 2018 and released their debut album, Dogrel, in 2019 to wide critical acclaim, earning nominations for the Mercury Prize and Choice Music Prize. A Hero's Death followed in 2020 with a Grammy nomination, and Skinty Fia in 2022 became their first number one album in Ireland and the UK, helping win them a Brit Award for International Group.

Later albums widened the sound considerably, taking in shoegaze textures, Britpop-scale melody and, on Romance (2024), a darker, more colourful pop palette. Romance more than doubled the band's first-week sales, earned two Grammy nominations and a Mercury Prize nomination, and its single "Starburster" became their first UK chart hit. The band has moved from small venues to arenas across five albums, staying vocal about Irish identity and politics.

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post-punkalt-rock