Toad the Wet Sprocket, courtesy. This week we bring you a guitar-hero-antics-inducing tune by Des Rocs, a bittersweet release by The Exploding Hearts, Jesus and Mary Chain revivalists DAIISTAR, a nine-minute epic by Maps, a live concert favorite by Santa Barbara’s Toad the Wet Sprocket, a folky gem by Thom…

Fontaines D.C., “Skinty Fia.” Skinty Fia, the third album from Fontaines D.C., is a dark, expansive concoction of dissonant chords and searing lyrics. Building on 2019’s Mercury-Prize-shortlisted Dogrel and 2020’s Grammy-nominated A Hero’s Death, Skinty Fia explores themes of inevitable transformation and fate. Skinty Fia Fontaines D.C. Partisan, April 22 7/10…

Fontaines D.C. performs at The Independent in San Francisco on Sept. 24, 2019. Photos: Martin Lacey. SAN FRANCISCO — Fontaines D.C. frontman Grian Chatten was a ball of nervous energy. Pacing the stage at the Independent like a caged animal, he surveyed the audience menacingly while simultaneously looking for an…