Boys in the Better Land

All Dogrel tracks are credited to Fontaines D.C. The song first came out on February 23, 2018 as a double A-side with "Chequeless Reckless", on Trigger Party Records per an NTS listing, though Hot Press calls it a B-side. DIY's Tony Creek heard kraut-rock-infused cyclical riffs, cited the La's, the Pogues and Buddy Holly and compared Chatten's voice to Mark E. Smith; BBC 6 Music's Steve Lamacq said he had played it about 15 times since the day before. The album version is track 10 at 5:00, released as a single on April 10, 2019 and premiered as Annie Mac's Hottest Record on April 9, with a lyric video. MusicBrainz lists a separate Darklands version (4:26) and a radio edit (3:15); Stereogum and Loud and Quiet say singles were re-recorded for the album, and we do not know which version our official audio upload is.

Chatten called it a celebration of independent thought and told Stereogum the grass-is-greener theme is like someone selling you a washing liquid on TV; Deegan says it criticizes advertising and the motives of people trying to sell you something, and Atwood Magazine hears marketing selling cultures to one another, with a key moment borrowing a well-known soft-drink slogan. Crack names it an early example of the band's Joyce references. Setlist.fm lists it as their most played song, 509 plays across 702 setlists, a count that grows with each gig. KEXP recorded it in Seattle in May 2018 and at Iceland Airwaves on November 8, 2018, they played it on Fallon on May 1, 2019 with the verses trimmed, and at the Mercury gala on September 19, 2019. It was added to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 in 2025. We found no covers or samples.