Fontaines D.C. – Skinty Fia

Stunning presentation but absolutely atrocious quality control here. How can you sell a sealed deluxe album like that? The records are scratched and muddy, the second record in particular. Haven't cleaned them yet, but hopefully, it will do the trick one day.

My copy sounds frankly pretty great. However, those paper sleeves!! Give your copy a clean first...

West2005, geht bei mir auch OHNE wäsche :-)) , Platten klingen hervorragend, Musik einfach genial, Pressung 10/10

Just give this 2LP a wet clean and enjoy then the excellent sound and the great music.

I gotta say, after a cleaning this is really nice. Much better than I had expected simply in of the style of music and the relative grimyness of the sound/recording. It's got a good wide stage to it and honestly not too many pops, certainly nothing that gets in the way of the music (at least on my copy). Not too much depth to the stage per se but still, this is a pleasant surprise, especially for the price. But I think in order to get the best out of it you're gunna want to do a good clean and also have a clamp because like so many new pressings, it ain't exactly flat. YMMV but this one can definitely sound good, depending on your setup.
For reference played on:
VPI Signature Classic
Soundsmith Paua MkII
Halo JC3+

After a light cleaning, my copy of this press sounds extremely clear. Expecting "Audiophone Vinyl" from this album is silly, but none of the issues with the sonics of this release do I attribute to this pressing. Excellent music and performances, but the corporate industry compression strategy on the mix was done with pretty weak execution. Frequency reproduction and stereo image on the master is great, but the dynamic range is poor, as is the sound of the drums over like ~6k, particularly when there are no vocals active in the mix. Both of these are consequences of institution-taught corporate rock compression being applied in a journeyman manner.

I find nothing about this pressing specifically to complain about, though. I have no concerns that this is not the version of this record to buy. Great music and the highest quality presentation.

The photography series itself and lyric booklet are a bit superficial and wilt under the spotlight of this products' big gatefold+booklet, but the quality of the paper and printing is excellent. Again no issue with the physical product, just some disappointing weakness with the overall graphic design. I would say that most of the people complaining about surface noise would likely do well with a good cleaning. Larger distribution pop-indie releases like this seem to often either pick up assembly line storage dust while waiting for the larger logistics chain of paper sleeve and hype sticker to catch up, or this ecosystem of indiepop labels seem to often work with plants that have cleaning processes on the discs that are a bit timid.

Perhaps it is a testament to the strength of the performance captured in the recording that it so outstrips the quality the rest of the professional that followed with the post-work and graphic design. After all, most of the songs are basically just two chords anyways. Excellent, excellent group performance, though, on all ten cuts.

This edition is supposed to be an audiophile version but there is surface noise everywhere. They should learn form jazz audiophiles versions. Impulse and Bluenote will kill themselves before releasing a poor quality pressing like this

Mine came with a signed print that https://discogs.cinepelis.org/release/22958273-Fontaines-DC-Skinty-Fia purports to come with, though my records are black rather than red, with the alt art cover. Haven't spun it yet but I will edit my comment with my thoughts on the vinyl quality when I do, just wanted to mention the signed print

In Ár Gcroíthe Go Deo, what a track... I'm speechless, this is brilliant.

I’m reluctant to put this up since it miiiight not be the record, but I will if it helps someone. I swear the whole album has a channel imbalance to the right. I’ve checked other records and streaming from a DAC, so I don’t think it’s my system or cartridge/turntable. Easy fix with a knob turn but not so for others, I’m sure. The rest of the pressing is lovely and quiet, and I love the packaging.