The Top 30 Albums Of 2019 (So Far): Fontaines DC – 'Dogrel'

"Few bands have captured the same excitement for rock as well as Fontaines DC do on Dogrel." – Adam Wilding

At its heart, Fontaines DC’s debut is about a city losing its spirit to gentrification, an attempt to document Dublin’s culture and character before the times plaster over the craic and move on. 

With that romantic goal in mind, Dogrel is full of literate lyrical sketches. Frontman Grian Chatten’s drawled pub poetry captures Irish Republican cabbies ("He spits out 'Brits out' only smokes Carrolls") as easily as the emptiness of capitalist pursuits ("Money is the sandpit of the soul") and the band colour it all with raucous post-punk and garage rock.

The result is universal, despite the record being as intrinsically linked to its hometown as a gold harp on a pint glass.