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The Scottish quartet Franz Ferdinand don’t look or sound like your stereotypical rockstars and thank God for that. In fact with their wedge’n bowl haircuts, art school disco geek look, impeccable manners and a neatly defined sound they seem out of place in today’s rock scene where everyone looks the same and even sounds the same. Thus, Franz Ferdinand is at the right place at the right time.
THE DEBUT
With their self-titled debut album, they mark the beginning of an exciting new era of innovative and creative British music that has been missing in the mainstream music scene. They breathe energy and life into a genre that was rapidly growing tired and dull. They take the best of 80’s post-punk, new –wave and inject jagged guitars, funky disco rhythms, whimsical lyrics for an exciting sound that’s all their own.
Named after the Austrian Archduke whose assassination started the First World War, they are here for a reason. Their mission is to make music that girls can dance to. They end up achieving their objective by making an album packed with tunes that will make anyone with legs dance. It is a thrilling amalgamation of bouncing basslines, asymmetric riffs and sing-along choruses.
THE BAND
Alex Kapranos (guitar/ vocals), Nick McCarthy (guitar/organ/back up vocals), Bob Hardy (bass), Paul Thompson (drums) met at the Glasgow College Of Art and formed Franz Ferdinand. They played their first gig in a friend’s bedroom, before moving into the now legendary “Chateau” – an abandoned warehouse in Glasgow where they held crazy gigs, art exhibitions, installations etc. They became pioneers of the Glasgow underground music scene and in a few months were signed by Domino Records. They have penned two major hit singles, one being the catchy punk-pop Darts Of Pleasure and the more current Take Me Out. This first album has been in the top ten in the United Kingdom for quite some time now and has created such a stir across the Atlantic that powerhouse Epic Records just shelled out big bucks to sign them.
THE MUSIC
Well, you must be thinking what is special about these guys. Firstly, they have come out with one of the best albums of the year so far. It contains eleven danceable and ferociously melodic songs that will cheer you up on dreary days. The album opener Jacqueline is about a man realizing that a young girl is out of his bounds. Its chorus is one of the catchiest. Take Me Out their hit single contains addictive riffs. It opens with a standard modern-rock guitar riff reminiscent of The Strokes. Then the song changes after the first minute with staccato guitars, disco rhythms and typical British lyrics. Alex sounds so shattered when he realizes that he is not going to have the girl of his dreams that he asks her to put him out of his misery before she leaves. This song is one of the highlights of the album.
The next track In The Dark Of The Matinee also deals with a lovesick guy talking about his obsessions with a classic rock riff to back it up. In Auf Achse, which starts with a keyboard, he spells out the frustrations that torment him everyday. ‘You see her / You can’t touch her / You hear her / You want her / You can’t have her.’ In Darts Of Pleasure, they are at their convincing and poppiest best. The album ends with 40 Feet with its uncanny and mysterious lyrics is the most mesmerizing track on the album.
You can read the complete special feature in the July 2004 issue of The Record Music Magazine available at your local newsagent.
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