{"id":796188,"date":"2026-10-08T18:20:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T18:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/796188\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T18:20:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T18:20:11","slug":"fierce-frantic-and-loaded-with-menace-fontaines-dcs-20-greatest-songs-ranked-fontaines-dc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/796188\/","title":{"rendered":"Fierce, frantic and loaded with menace: Fontaines DC\u2019s 20 greatest songs \u2013 ranked! | Fontaines DC"},"content":{"rendered":"

20. It\u2019s Amazing to Be Young (2025)<\/p>\n

A single inspired by the birth of bassist Conor Deegan\u2019s daughter, It\u2019s Amazing to Be Young is a lovely example of Fontaines DC operating in euphoric mode, a relatively recent addition to their emotional mood board: \u201cSometimes,\u201d offered frontman Grian Chatten<\/a>, \u201coptimism is a necessary delusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

19. Death Kink (2024)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s often cheeringly difficult to work out exactly what Fontaines DC\u2019s influences are<\/a>, but the shadow of Pixies definitely hangs over Romance\u2019s Death Kink, from the string-bending lead guitar line on the chorus to the fabulously wonky solo and the abrupt ending. A delight, albeit one as dark-hued as the title suggests.<\/p>\n

18. A Lucid Dream (2020)<\/p>\n

The best take on A Lucid Dream might be the radically different \u201clive version\u201d released as a single in 2021, which slows the tempo, drags a piano into proceedings and amps up the song\u2019s ineffable sense of menace. That said, the original \u2013 speedy drums, abstract guitar noise, ferocious climax \u2013 is quite something, too.<\/p>\n

17. Big (2019)<\/p>\n

As introductions to a new band go, the opening track of Fontaines DC\u2019s debut album, Dogrel<\/a>, takes some beating. Big is a fierce, snotty, swaggering, supremely exciting statement of intent (\u201cDublin in the rain is mine \u2026 I\u2019m gonna be big\u201d) that immediately lets listeners know they are in the presence of something special.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s cheeringly difficult to work out their influences \u2026 Fontaines DC performing at Reading festival in 2024. Photograph: Simone Joyner\/Getty Images16. In the Modern World (2024)<\/p>\n

The saga of \u201ca fictional throuple together amid Armageddon\u201d \u2013 tale as old as time, etc \u2013 written by Chatten during a spell of isolation in Los Angeles, In the Modern World feels a little like one of Lana Del Rey\u2019s LA noir tales shot through Fontaines\u2019 grimy lens, with startling results.<\/p>\n

15. Skinty Fia (2022)<\/p>\n

As with a lot of songs on Fontaines\u2019 third album<\/a>, the lyrics of the title track deal in ambiguity and confusion, as a recently expat Irishman grapples with different notions of Irishness among the diaspora. But there\u2019s nothing ambiguous about the music \u2013 a muscular, funky rhythm section overlaid with eerily gothic guitar and industrial noise.<\/p>\n

14. Hurricane Laughter (2019)<\/p>\n

Fontaines\u2019 pummelling early approach in miniature: a relentless, Krautrock-y riff \u2013 think Can\u2019s Mother Sky \u2013 turned up to 11, frantic post-punk guitars, vocals that somehow manage to feel laconic and forceful at the same time, a remarkable sense of confidence and purpose dripping from the entire enterprise.<\/p>\n

A pummelling early approach \u2026 the band on stage in Austin, Texas, in 2019. Photograph: Travis P Ball\/Getty Images for SXSW13. Big Shot (2022)<\/p>\n

In retrospect, Big Shot sounds not unlike a dry run for the widescreen, expansive sound Fontaines would explore on 2024\u2019s Romance<\/a>, but it\u2019s a fabulous track in its own right, driven by an immense, glowering guitar riff. Check the strings-and-piano live version that highlights the sombre majesty of its melody.<\/p>\n

12. I Don\u2019t Belong (2020)<\/p>\n

A lot of A Hero\u2019s Death<\/a>, their second album, suggested the success of its predecessor, Dogrel, sat uneasily with Fontaines DC; opener I Don\u2019t Belong, an unflinching and remarkably affecting portrait of alienation and egotism on tour, certainly does. The music broods and wrongfoots the listener: you think it\u2019s building to an epic climax, but it just dies away, unresolved.<\/p>\n

11. Marianne (2026)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to think of another alternative rock album in 2026 as eagerly awaited as Fontaines DC\u2019s Dopamine Chamber, trailed as a bleaker counterpart to Romance. The slow-motion synth chug of the first single, Marianne \u2013 epic, possessed of a superb pop melody and faintly disquieting lyrically \u2013 did nothing to damp down the anticipation.<\/p>\n

10. Televised Mind (2020)<\/p>\n

Released prior to A Hero\u2019s Death, Televised Mind is a queasy reflection on the impact of social media, its lyrics too oblique to fall into cliche. Between the fuzzed-out bass (apparently influenced by the Prodigy), the scrabbling, corrosively distorted guitars and Chatten\u2019s dead-eyed drawl, it builds up a powerful, infectious mood of anxiety.<\/p>\n

9. Favourite (2024)<\/p>\n

You would never have imagined the punchy, dark-hued band behind Dogrel might one day come up with anything quite as sweetly irresistible as Romance\u2019s closer, Favourite. It\u2019s the kind of glorious, sunlit guitar jangle that could have been an indie disco floor-filler at virtually any point in the last 40 years.<\/p>\n

Initially heralded as a punk band \u2026 Fontaines DC pictured in 2024. Photograph: Simon Wheatley8. Liberty Belle (2018)<\/p>\n

Initially, at least, Fontaines DC were heralded as a punk band. They turned out to be something far less straightforward than that. But you can see how it happened from Liberty Belle, an invigorating mass of frantically thrashed guitars, thumping drums and lyrics that cast a rueful eye over Dublin street life.<\/p>\n

7. A Hero\u2019s Death (2020)<\/p>\n

Amid the troubled album of the same name, A Hero\u2019s Death feels like a series of notes to self \u2013 \u201cDon\u2019t give up too quick \/ You only get one line, you better make it stick\u201d \u2013 set to music that balances darkness with flickers of light in the buoyant rhythm and backing vocals.<\/p>\n

6. Nabokov (2022)<\/p>\n

Skinty Fia\u2019s stunning closer ends the album on a bleak note. The lyrics offer a grim view of the compromises involved in a long-term relationship, while the music is a maelstrom of guitars from the darker end of the shoegazing spectrum. There\u2019s nothing dreamlike about their heaving din, just a disorienting claustrophobia.<\/p>\n

5. Roman Holiday (2022)<\/p>\n

As a wall of guitar drifts beguilingly along, Roman Holiday offers a brilliant evocation of the complex feelings evoked by moving to London, equal parts agog with excitement \u2013 \u201cBaby come on, get your high heels on\u201d \u2013 and wary and confused, the latter emotions amplified by Ireland\u2019s problematic relationship with Britain.<\/p>\n

4. Boys in the Better Land (2019)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s cut from a noticeably different musical cloth \u2013 a heady, intense rush of distorted guitars, the apotheosis of Dogrel\u2019s youthful blast \u2013 but you could see Boys in the Better Land as a counterpoint to Roman Holiday: an equally complicated set of emotions evoked by Fontaines DC\u2019s home town of Dublin.<\/p>\n

Something special \u2026 the Dublin-raised, London-based band photographed in 2024. Photograph: Peter Joseph Smith3. Jackie Down the Line (2022)<\/p>\n

This relates the saga of an abusive relationship, told from the point of view of the unrepentant abuser \u2013 Chatten\u2019s vocal delivers some spectacularly grim lines with a callously diffident shrug \u2013 and rendered all the more chilling by its infernally catchy melody. A genuinely amazing song.<\/p>\n

2. Starburster (2024)<\/p>\n

The song that introduced Fontaines V2.0:\u2013 image more striking, music more pop-facing without sacrificing any of their agitated urgency. Starburster\u2019s monstrous beat, orchestral samples and guitar twang vaguely resemble trip-hop retooled for a more fretful era, with Chatten\u2019s vocal punctuated by panic-attack gasps. Hooky but glowering and supremely powerful.<\/p>\n

1. I Love You (2022)<\/p>\n

The centrepiece of Skinty Fia starts straightforwardly enough: a cliched title, a gentle, faintly Cure-ish intro of bass and gothy guitar. But I Love You just keeps building and building, ratcheting up the tension through a lengthy kick-drum-driven interlude, as Chatten\u2019s lyrical open letter to Ireland gets more knotty and conflicted, his voice more fraught and antagonised: \u201cThis island\u2019s run by sharks with children\u2019s bones stuck in their jaws.\u201d It\u2019s five minutes of music that leaves the listener wrung out: dense, complex, emotive and crushing. You can\u2019t imagine any of Fontaines DC\u2019s peers making anything remotely like it.<\/p>\n

Dopamine Chamber is released via XL on 16 October<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"20. It\u2019s Amazing to Be Young (2025) A single inspired by the birth of bassist Conor Deegan\u2019s daughter,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":796189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[96,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-796188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=796188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/796189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=796188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=796188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=796188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}