As much as punk has been a cry for change (even if that change is just burning it all down), post-punk has explored the lives that cry out for change, but never receive it. That’s particularly true across the pond, coming from the disaffected. And lest you think it’s all London and England’s post-industrial north, or that it was all in yesteryear, Dublin’s Fontaines D.C. brings it in force with Skinty Fia.
The heaviness of life weighs mightily on Skinty, even with love. There’s the killer post-punk single “Jackie Down the Line”, the crushing preceding take “How Cold Love Is” – even the beautiful “I Love You” hits with the power of what love actually entails. There are some moments off this path, the higher “Roman Holiday” and particularly the accordion ode to “The Couple Across the Way”, but those are only moments of relief, compared to the dark pressure of the title track or the expanding squash of closer “Nabokov”.
Too often post-punk languishes in obscurity, lacking the easy access of even punk, and sometimes that’s justified, but thankfully Fontaines D.C. are only growing in success with this, their third record. They’ve even moved to London.
