Where They’re From: Dublin, Ireland

Who They Are: The Dublin-based Fontaines D.C. play rock and roll. The band has swagger, songs with killer hooks, scintillating guitars, high-energy rhythmic drive and a can’t-take-your-eyes-off-him frontperson in the form of Grian Chatten, who channels Joy Division’s Ian Curtis presence. Musically, Fontaines D.C. captures the smoother edges of British post-punk legends The Fall with forceful — sometimes snarling — angular rock songs. The infectious, galloping drive of “A Hero’s Death” is made even more pressing by Chatten’s matter-of-fact delivery of prescriptive lyrics, including “Don’t get stuck in the past/Say your favourite things at mass,” “Never let a clock tell you what you got time for” and the song’s lyrical hook, “Life’s ain’t always empty.” A lyrically distant cousin to Radiohead’s “Fitter Happier,” the urgent drive of “A Hero’s Death” is an impressive to call to philosophical action and rock.

Years Active: 2017 – present

Essential Albums: A Hero’s Death (2020)