Kneecap - Fine Art

Kneecap's Fine Art is a riotous 2024 debut from the Belfast trio who made Irish-language rap one of the most talked-about sounds in music, back on vinyl in a fresh pressing.

Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí switch between Irish and English with mischievous ease, turning songs about nights out, Belfast streets and politics into something funny, sharp and fiercely proud. Released the same year as their semi-fictionalised film, the album caught them at the moment their underground buzz became something much bigger.

"3Cag" opens the record with help from Lankum's Radie Peat, her voice adding a haunting folk edge to the bass-heavy beats. "Better Way to Live" brings in Fontaines D.C. frontman Grian Chatten for a woozy, anthemic highlight, while "Sick in the Head" keeps the energy high and the jokes coming. "Harrow Road" crosses the water with London rapper Jelani Blackman.

Short interludes stitch the songs together, adding to the sense of a record that rarely takes itself too seriously, even when it has something serious to say.

Bold, rowdy and full of heart, Fine Art is the sound of a band that refused to tone anything down for anyone, and this reissue makes it easy to hear why so many people fell for them.