SOUND JUDGEMENT

The latest album releases reviewed

SKINTY FIA Fontaines DC HHHHI

Now living in

London, postpunks Fontaines

DC pay tribute to their Irish roots on their third album, Skinty Fia.

Musically, this is their most freewheeling album yet.

Its first single, Jackie Down The Line, is a moody blast of jangling guitars, grungy drums and frontman Grian Chatten’s malevolent vocals.

I Love You is a warped love letter drawing on The Cure and written from the perspective of a conflicted Irishman abroad.

The song Big Shot is about guitarist Carlos O’Connell’s struggles with their newfound fame and a rollicking yet sensitive account of internal conflict.

In fact, conflict is what drives Skinty Fia and makes it the band’s best release yet.

EVERYTHING WAS BEAUTIFUL Spiritualized HHHHI

A quarter of a century on from surprise hit Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, Jason Pierce charts a path away from the space rock stoner reputation that album brought him.

Opener Always Together With You flirts with pop, with Pierce surprisingly singing “If you want a unicorn I would be a unicorn for you”.

Best Thing You Never Had has a motorik drive, pedal steel guitar adorns country lament Crazy, while Let It Bleed’s title nods to the Rolling Stones, a clear influence here, helping to create a record of confidence and depth.

POP DRUNK SNOT BREAD Bowling For Soup HHHII

Opening track,

Greatest Of All

Time contains lines that could double as the band’s mission statement: “We only want to make you smile, maybe sing along, and forget about the bad stuff”.

Which is why it’s surprising to hear them gear-shift to a discussion of mental health on Hello Anxiety.

The Best We Can is a mature and genuinely gorgeous love song - though laughs can be had on a fanboy paean to wrestler Alexa Bliss.