Just a year after the Dublin post punk band Fontaines D.C. 's debut album Dogrel, the group is back with A Hero’s Death. On their sophomore album, Fontaines trade out the indulgent confidence, and sometimes dense sound, of Dogrel for a moodier and more expansive sound. Inspired by The Beach Boys and the ocean, the group reflects on society on this album and uses their new roomier sound to help create a sense of escapism; that escapism was a key element that stood out to them about the Beach Boys’ music. It’s a blink and you’ll miss it comparison, but those familiar with the slow wavy spaced out sounds of the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” will hear a similar spacey landscape on most of A Hero’s Death.

By Emma Chekroun