Footage resurfaces of pre-fame Fontaines D.C. covering The Strokes’ ‘Reptilia’ in 2014 

Footage has resurfaced of a pre-fame Fontaines D.C., performing a cover of The Strokes‘ ‘Reptilia’ in 2014.

• READ MORE: Fontaines D.C.’s daring comeback single ‘Starburster’ is their most experimental work yet

The footage was shared on YouTube earlier this month by a channel that goes by the handle Fontaines D.C. Archive, and shows the members performing at the BIMM Music Institute back in 2014.

The band’s performance at the music school comes as the members were once students at the Dublin site, and graduated shortly before they signed to Partisan Records, which is also the home to IDLES, Cigarettes After Sex and many more.

In the clip, which is just over four minutes long, frontman Grian Chatten is seen chatting with the audience as the band ease their way into a rendition of The Strokes’ 2003 classic ‘Reptilia’, which arrived on the ‘Room On Fire’ album.

From there, a lively rendition of the track follows and the crowd begin singing along. Chatten also takes a minute to lean into the audience and pull an audience member’s arms above his head to make him clap along.

The gig was also discussed back in 2020, when BIMM shared an update on its website to celebrate the band hitting Number Two on the UK Albums Chart back in 2020, with their second album ‘A Hero’s Death’.

In the recollection of the 2014 show, the organisers highlighted how the set was performed as part of “BIMM Dublin’s ‘Live & Lyrical’ gig in October”, and also saw the band play an early song they wrote called ‘The One In-Between’.

“Immediately we were struck by their raw energy, charisma and post-punk sensibility,” Anne Marie Shields, Head of Careers, Industry Liaison and Events for BIMM Dublin explained in the update. “Over the next few years Fontaines D.C. developed as a really technically tight and sonically excellent band playing a lot of gigs around Dublin, and performing at many BIMM Dublin Events, including Graduation. They headlined our BIMM Live festival in June 2017 at The Tivoli Theatre on Francis Street, where BIMM is based, and it was clear they were about to take the world by storm.”

As aforementioned, the members studied at BIMM Dublin and graduated shortly before being signed to Partisan Records. They signed the deal in November 2018 and released ‘Too Real’ as their first single with the label.

The following year the group released their debut LP ‘Dogrel’ to critical acclaim – peaking at Number Four on the Irish album chart and Number Nine in the UK charts. It also received a Mercury Prize nomination, and saw the band nominated for NME’s Best New Act in the World.

Since then they have shared two albums: a sophomore LP ‘A Hero’s Death’ and an acclaimed third album ‘Skinty Fia’. The latter saw Chatten and co. take home NME’s coveted Best Band in the World Award.

As for their cover of The Strokes at the 2014 show, the band have been vocal about the impact that the group had on them in the early days of their career.

Speaking with Vera On Track last year, Conor Deegan III opened up about how The Strokes influenced Fontaines D.C., and said that it “took us a couple of years to stop ripping them off”.

“When you start a band you’re kind of limited in what you can do. You don’t really understand what a guitar and a bass and drums can do together when it’s four or five people. How they’re supposed to work together,” he began.

“And then we listened to The Strokes’ first album… it’s all very organised, very easy to comprehend. And because it’s so catchy as well, it’s very easy to get into. So when we were just young guys, we were really into that, but it actually became a bit of a trap for us.

“I think it’s a trap for a lot of young bands to listen to the strokes because how do you move away from that? How did you find your own identity? Stuff like that… It took us a couple of years to stop ripping them off basically.”

More recently, Fontaines D.C. signed to XL and shared their pummelling new single ‘Starburster’, as well as announcing details of their fourth album ‘ROMANCE’.

The lead single was given a glowing five-star review by NME’s Andrew Trendell and described as “their most experimental work yet”.

“‘Starburster’ is a pensive art-rock beast that fuses elements of electronica and hip-hop more akin to their fellow striking countrymen (and recent collaborators) KNEECAP as Chatten spits: ‘I’m gon hit your business if it’s momentary blissness *BREEEAAAATHE*’,” it read.

To celebrate the announcement of the new LP, the band also shared details of a huge UK and Ireland tour, set to kick off later this year, before going on to add extra dates to the run earlier this morning (April 25). Visit here for remaining tickets.

The post Footage resurfaces of pre-fame Fontaines D.C. covering The Strokes’ ‘Reptilia’ in 2014  appeared first on NME.