EMERGING: IRISH PUNK POETS FONTAINES D.C.

Who are Fontaines D.C., and why should you care? Let’s step back to 2019, when the Dublin-based band released their debut studio album Dogrel worldwide on Partisan Records. After debuting Top 10 in the U.K., bolstered by the single "Boys in the Better Land," the band came to the U.S., leaving SXSW as the band-to-see and selling out-its U.S. tour with labelmates Idles. A career-defining performance on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon solidified their rep as a must-see band. Back in Britain, Dogrel was named Album of the Year by BBC6 and was nominated for a Mercury Prize.

Fast-forwarding to 2020, the band signed with Wildlife Entertainment (Arctic Monkeys, Travis, Royal Blood) and were booked for Coachella, Reading, Fuji Rocks and every major festival in between. Then, their sophomore LP A Hero’s Death was poised to debut at #1 on the U.K. chart until Taylor Swift surprise-released folklore. As it was, A Hero's Death bowed at #2 in the U.K. and Ireland, while the title track was embraced by BBC Radio 1 (A List).

Fontaines D.C.’s distinctions include Grian Chatten’s vocal delivery; part Mark E. Smith from The Fall and part beat poet; the two volumes of poetry they’ve put out so far; and the fact that Bono and Pearl Jam are fans. And Game of Thrones' Littlefinger, Aidan Gillen, stars in the video for “A Hero’s Death” as a smarmy talk-show host.