Fontaines D.C. with Live4ever at SXSW 2019 (Paul Bachmann)
Fontaines D.C. have unveiled the new version of Boys In The Better Land which will be a part of their debut album Dogrel when it is released on Friday.
Re-recorded after it initially came out as a double A-side single with Chequeless Reckless last year – a single which Live4ever named as our favourite of 2018 – the track has been described by frontman Grian Chatten as a ‘celebration of independent thought’.
In our album review Live4ever asked, ‘Are they punks? Are they indie? Are they crafty sons of a city being erased before them? Yes to all‘:
“Opener Big is anti-ambition, Chatten growling, “My childhood was small/But I’m gonna be big” like that was a pair of boots waiting to be filled.”
“Effortlessly they transition into the playground, the knockabout strut of Sha Sha Sha taking on all comers while on Roy’s Tune, Chatten is almost singing and the melody is almost pretty, the way people sometimes hear something different to the person next to them, but this time the blanket covers everyone, like a mass hypnosis of good.”
