The Cure song that Fontaines D.C. wish they had written
Long before the current obsession with angular guitars and shouty vocalists, the rise of Speedy Wunderground, or the cult Brixton Windmill circuit, post-punk was a term reserved for the artsy, avant-garde experimentalists of the 1970s and 1980s.
When punk died, it made way for a new form of DIY band, one unafraid to blend genres and art forms. This new phenomenon spawned a generation of bands who maintain their influence over the alternative scene even now. From Siouxsie and the Banshees to Talking Heads, the bands who pioneered post-punk in its original form have been instrumental influences in its revival.
At the forefront of the emerging post-punk scene were a Sussex-born band called The Cure. Led by Robert Smith, they combined gothic influences, pop sensibilities, arty post-punk and new wave to forge an enduringly unique sound. Over four decades on from their formation, The Cure remain an essential reference point in modern post-punk.
From the darkwave sounds of Molchat Doma to the indie rock-influenced Interpol, their influence can be felt throughout the revival of the genre. One of the post-punk resurgence’s most important names – Fontaines D.C. – even named ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ as a song that they wish they’d written.
When they took up the role of BBC Radio 6’s ‘Artists in Residence’, frontman Grian Chatten and bassist Conor Deegan curated a playlist of songs they wished they had penned. Amidst shout-outs to some of their peers in Black Midi and Sorry and homages to guitar staples like The Velvet Underground and Pixies, their selection included The Cure’s iconic second single, ‘Boys Don’t Cry’.
Released in 1979, the hit paired jangly instrumentals with melancholic lyrics about the expectations of masculinity. “I try to laugh about it, cover it all up with lies, I try to laugh about it, hiding the tears in my eyes,” Smith sings over the contrastingly jubilant soundtrack. It’s not difficult to imagine Chatten’s distinctive Irish voice taking on the post-punk classic.
According to the frontman, he was introduced to the post-punk pioneers at a young age, courtesy of his mother. He shared his love for ‘Boys Don’t Cry’: “A song that was introduced to me by my mam when I was very, very small, and she’d just come home with the greatest hits on CD. She was very excited to show me her youth, you know, when she was a massive Cure fan.”
It’s fitting that the frontman grew up on the sounds of The Cure, a band who contributed so much to the post-punk resurgence that Fontaines D.C. now exist within.
Fontaines D.C. even paid homage to their post-punk predecessors with a cover of another The Cure hit at a live show in Dublin last year. Watch Fontaines D.C. cover The Cure’s ‘Just Like Heaven’ below.
