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Dogrel is the debut studio album by Dublin post-punk band Fontaines D.C. The album was nominated for Album of The Year at the Choice Music Prize and Mercury Prize in 2019. Upon its release, Dogrel received universal acclaim from contemporary music critics. On review aggregator website Metacritic, Dogrel has an average weighted rating of 86 out of 100 indicating "universal acclaim" based on 17 critics' reviews. Ben Beaumont-Thomas, writing for The Guardian, praised the lyricism of the album, stating that "this is the kind of songwriting quality that bands can take years to reach, or never reach at all: brilliant, top to bottom." Tom Connock of NME stated that "the Irish troubadours come good on a debut album that offers both a storyteller's narrative voice and a snarling new vision of youthful disillusionment." Writing for Pitchfork, Stuart Berman contrasted both the band and record to contemporary British post-punk outfits, IDLES and Shame, saying that "Fontaines D.C. are fueled by neither IDLES' revolutionary fervor nor Shame's festering disgust. They're not raging against the current state of affairs as much as lamenting the local communities and culture in danger of being steamrolled by the march of modernity." He went on to comment that "their origin story is so quaint and anachronistic, it verges on flaneur cosplay, with the quintet reportedly bonding over a mutual love of Joycean poetry and pub nights spent scribbling out and reciting verses to one another. That old-school approach finds its analog in a raw, robust twin-guitar attack that's more jangly than jagged, nodding to ‘60s garage, surf, and early rock‘n’roll while projecting a confrontational fury. As such, Fontaines D.C. are very much a post-punk band reclaiming a certain pre-punk innocence."
One of most inventive debut albums in recent times. They have become a bit predictable since then, but this one sounded so new and so cool
This really grew on me over the course of the album. I think it was Roy's Tune that really got me. It's what I like about most Irish punk/post-punk - the emotion, the authenticity, the plaintiveness, the simple beauty. 4 stars.
I haven’t listened in a long time and was happily surprised at how well an already great album aged. Love the TS Eliot reference in Too Real. Thanks for adding.
Great album by a great band
I have a bad habit of getting super into an artist's recent releases without checking out the rest of their discography. Case in point, 'Skinty Fia' was one of my 2022 albums of the year, but I didn't even bother to listen to the rest of Fontaines D.C.'s albums. Glad this came up, then, as it was great to hear the band in a more exploratory, rock-focused period in their nascent years. The basis of each track is solid modern rock, but there's a certain (and now characteristic) bleak energy the band manages to infuse that makes it feel as if they're accepting the end of the world with a shrug. Maybe it's Grian Chatten's deadpan delivery, or the tight, almost post-punk guitar lines, but in any case, it's a niche that Fontaines have clearly carved for themselves and one they continue to solely occupy. Coupled with the slightly gritty production and constant (but not overwhelming) use of reverb, there's a real sense of space and occupancy that gives this LP a genuine feeling of being lived in day in and day out. Always wild to hear bands burst onto the scene nearly fully formed, and while not every track hits (and there is a certain sense of tonal exhaustion by the end), this was a great listen to understand where the band has built from.
At first I was thinking this was going to be a meh listen of some modern post-punk… at least on the first song. By Too Real my interest piqued more - really started to dig this band. I liked Television Screens and Hurricane Laughter as much and my feelings for this band were warming up. Roy’s Tune took things in a very different direction - and when it ended I repeated the song right then. Really nice song and quite unexpected. The rest of the album was really great! Liberty Belle and Boys in a Better Land are fantastic. Then the very Irish-tinged closer Dublin City Sky brought this home in another unexpected but fantastic way. What a terrific album!
I was skeptical of another post-punk, but the Dubliner grit added a little something that elevates the record.
The Irish Protomartyr.
Hmmm 3
I was surprised that this post-punk record came out in 2019, it sounds more like something you would hear in the 80s or 90s. It doesn't really do much for me though
This sure was an album I listened to
Rating: 10/10
I actually saw Fontaines DC on the "Joy As An Act of Resistance" tour with Idles. Looking back (a lot longer than I realized), what a lineup. Idles at the height of their power, and Fontaines on the rise. I was impressed with them then, and it's been nice to see them catch so much fire in the releases following. I don't think this is a perfect album by any stretch, there's definitely some fat to trim, but as for debuts go, it's impressive. It may be a bit indebted to the classics: gothic post-punk a la The Cure ("The Lotts"), The Clash ("Sha Sha Sha"). Great writing, great riffs. Favorite tracks: "Hurricane Laughter", "Boys In The Better Land", "Sha Sha Sha"
7/10. Worth a relisten when I've got time to appreciate the songwriting. This run through all I really got out of this was that they were Irish and they sounded pretty good
Energy.
Nice and unique style. Good album
Gotta love that thick Irish accent! I know I do. Although this isn't their strongest album (I like the two that came after even more) this debut album already showed the signs of what was to come next.
This was resoundingly great. No notes!
Not a bad debut. The influence here is primarily 2000s British alternative/indie rock but there is a nice punk influence in there as well. There were moments that sounded very much like the Clash.
Enjoyed this, had a raw feel to it .3.7
A little Billy Bragg, a little of The Pogues, some Stiff Little Fingers, but from 2019? I liked it!
I was between ho-hum and not-so-bad for this album.
A good, nay, great relisten
Post punk
Dogrel's city is one colder and more lively than the one I'm used to; Should be a winner. The vocal attack owes much to punk, and proceeds in jagged time over the more complicated, less repetitive instruments. The album soundtracks a journey, not as compelling as, say, the Arctic Monkeys, but more honest and less drenched in nostalgia.
It has a couple very solid tracks and overall is a very enjoyable record, I see why some people would fall in love with this. But for me, it's having a hard time standing out from the crowd, both its contemporaries and the 2000's post punk revivalists it draws from.
It's like a post-punk Bloc Party. Not bad at all. Fun structures, almost moves closer to punk than post-punk for me, really. I want it to be a little bit more raw like older post-punk a la Talking Heads, The Fall, etc. Idk just a bit more clean than I would like, but not bad at all.
Interesting indie sound
Post-punk hit a whole lotta years before 2019 and I'm not sure this is bringing anything much new to the table. The music was decent, the lyrics interesting, but I had a hard time getting past the vocals - that nearly monotone UK Oy Oy Oy yawp.
Dogrel is a cool name
Interesting enough album, sounds like something that might have come out 25 years earlier. Make what you will of that. Vocals frequently fall flat. Fave Songs: Too Real, Television Screens, Sha Sha Sha, Hurricane Laughter
This was a pretty solid album. Not sure if I’d call it a punk album. There were only a couple of songs that felt somewhat punk and also I actually liked it compared to most punk albums. Maybe it’s modern punk then because some of the songs were more typical to a indie rock. The Irish accent in the songs actually made it stronger and gave it some character in the story. Overall I’d revisit it and good choice. 7.0/10
Pretty decent punk rock... on the television screen...
This was just as uninteresting to me as all of the main list post punk albums except this one doesn’t sound like it was recorded in a basement with radio shack equipment, which makes it lose what little charm it could’ve had.
Well, I hear this band a lot on various radiostations. But it is just not for me. Too British and the vocals annoy me just too much.
Would have been higher but that accent is appalling
The current darlings of the “indie” music world and they tick the box of youthful thoughtful rock, but only Boys In The Better Land is actually any good. Also seems strange to do spoken word delivery when the final song, Dublin City Sky, shows the singer has a passable singing voice. Overall I’m disappointed. Emperor’s New Clothes - again.
Nothing special
I didn't like the voice and most of the songs were too similar.
Post-punk. Ni fu ni fa. Pues no, mira. Al final es taaaan tostón y repetitivo que le doy un 2.
If it was an instrumental it would be a really good post-punk record, but I just can't get past the vocal. Blur (confidence is a preference for the habitual voyeur of what is known as...) x Partridge (ders more to Oireland, dan dis) = This record. Rating: 2 Playlist track: Too Real Date listened: 25/09/24
Doesn't do much for me. If Billy Bragg was a bit more rock-punk and wasn't very melodic (more spoken lyrics), this is what I think you'd get. There wasn't much that engaged me, and grew a bit boring by the end.
Byrjar ágætlega en dregur svo úr.
The music is neither here nor there, but I had an instant negative reaction to that voice. So much so that the music started annoying me too. 1/5 terrible. (Sorry bud, I know you probably love it and hope everyone else does too. But yeesh)