365 – New Music Daily

Trying a bit more of a what’s in rotation style of blogs!

How should we kick this one off? Should we go full High Fidelity style? Should I tell you about the ins and outs of my daily existence – my plans for the week? Who caaaaaares? (though I am excited to see Blue Velvet at the picture show) I’ll leave those for the journ this go round and go straight into the rotation for this week – which has been taken over with an outbreak of Fontaines D.C. As usual, stealing from old Billy – Half-assed internet research & my terrible cultural knowledge (what can I say babe, I’m a purist! I hate the rectangle, I just be livin baby. I don’t follow trends, I’m a hipster – I can’t seek a normal type life. What’s a normal type life anyways? Barbecues and Ballgames? I never wanted a normal type life):

Fontaines D.C. are an Irish band that is described as… post-punk! Does post-punk top Indie as one of the most poorly described genres? Yes indeed. Because even I, who (excuse me while I get on the highest of horses here), knows a decent bit about music, was completely confused by post-punk… and still kind of am? What the fuck is post punk? Also, I invite my (3) readers to listen to something like Disorder by Joy Division and then Jackie Down the Line by Fontaines D.C. and tell me if you think these are the same genre. Also – now that I’ve shown you all a Fontaines song – I will revisit a tier that I used to employ – “Not for me, but maybe for you” – and flip it around. Fontaines is a big “For me, but maybe not for you” band – an acquired taste, dare I say. I totally get if you don’t dig these guys. And I’ll talk later about the importance of vocals in music (not in the way you may think) – but there are definitely some people who hear their lead singers voice and want nothing to do with this band. Whateva. Let it grow. And finish the post… please clap.

Anyways, they’re an Irish punk band. They are lauded – for good reason. Which I will discuss below. But Fontaines really hits you in a number of ways — especially creating this unique post-punk experience filled with dissonant riffs, a mix of rough vocals and some beautiful ones (some of the psych-songs on their new album are really fantastic – In The Modern World namely) – and some songs that make you ready to take speed and rob a bank (? that’s all I came up with):

They are a deeply unique band – marked both by their lead singer’s incredibly unique voice (which may not be as strange when you think of the vocals coming out of later 70’s/early 80’s post punk – see Sonic Youth, Joy Division, even some Sex Pistol-y stuff) – and their diverse musical compilations that have allowed them to come into 2025 doing post punk in an entirely unique, fuck you way.

Okay, can we get a little serious now? Please! I am a serious artist. This shit mean somethin to me man. What Fontaines reminds me of – is that one of the most impressive feats in music is the ability to attain an entirely distinct sound – apart from vocals (not to say that vocals cannot carry pieces of music, define artists/bands/generations, make or break many bands – there’s not much worse than hearing a great groove and being entirely let down by the singer). Vocals provide a distinct sonic element that can make otherwise “generic” music sound like something entirely new. But what about attaining a sound that is so unique to an era through a fusion of all musical components – a sonic experience rather than just a catchy bop? There are bigger purists than me that find this through things like Jazz (I do like jazz though. Do ya like jazz?) – or even through bands like Swans which I just can’t get into (a 27 minute song? who do you think you are? barbecues and ballgames?) – but I do think that furthers how impressive it is to be done in a digestible, “typical” album format.

There are so many factors that play into this feat of creating musical uniqueness – risk, ingenuity, trust, and self-assurance, among many others. You take risk through your ingenuity – breaking the mold of predecessors or reinventing what they’ve provided to create your own framework. You trust your instincts of what you think is good – perhaps even regardless of how it may be perceived through the lens of the general public – and you’re self-assured in knowing that you’re doing what’s right for you. (which, in writing, I realize that all of these things should be applied to our psyche outside of music – trust your creativity, take calculated risks, and be self-assured!).

This is also what makes some of those late 60’s and early 70’s rock years so special to me – bands were throwing shit at the wall and inventing things that were influenced for decades, perhaps for eternity. Jimi (imo) invented psych rock through experimental guitar tones, song structures, and trusted his own vision enough to pioneer a sound that rules today’s landscape. Skynyrd pioneered Southern Rock through both ingenuity and fusion of musical elements that their predecessors used, putting them into one package to create something eternal. Floyd extended psych rock and furthered the art of thematic albums, transitions, creating music as an experience passed an individual song. The list goes on and on – but the takeaways are clear – the risk takers are often the ones that are eternalized for their creativity, for their boldness, and for their individualism. There are plenty of examples of iconic music artists that you may not lay this claim to – but for the most part, icons live on because they are fucking iconic, unbelievably talented, bold, all of the adjectives.

They also create experiences – which is a great demarcation of a great band – music is transcendent, encapsulating, and beyond just a quick jam. THOUGH I will continue to say – music is also not one thing! Sometimes you need to just have a non encapsulating jam and just groove out. I will echo on every blog – listen to what makes you feel shit in yo soul baby. I was jamming to Lil Uzi yesterday. It happens. Vibe.

The meandering ends in saying – experiences that really feel like something beyond music – you’re in the clouds, you’re in the swamp, you’re at the shrimp shack – are shows of the power of music. Those where you can just lay flat, stare at the ceiling, and feel entranced.

However, not only do you have to take these artistic leaps, but you have to actually make shit sound different than everyone else. This is incredibly difficult in the modern era – where it feels like everything has already been done, and it’s nearly impossible to hear someone new making music and not think “they remind me of ______”. To me, this is Fontaines D.C., a completely unique entity in the oversaturated, overwhelming, voluminous landscape of music that we parse through daily. Great band – and though I love the song Starburster above (especially recommended to listen to after the intro of their album) – I also am digging: Roman Holiday, Bug, In The Modern World, Here’s The Thing, among others. Back soon!