Franz Ferdinand Painted Us a Picture With Music - Gosh, it’s gear too

Imagine if people made music just for kicks and crafted songs like pieces of modern art.

One day I was watching music video after music video on Launch looking for some new and interesting. Well, I found it - in the form of Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out”. The brilliantly creative, snarky, little video caught my eye so I watched their other video “The Dark of the Matinee”. I liked their seriously silly approach to music and their artistic videos. I also was very impressed by their lead guitarist and lead singer (Oo, that Scottish accent!). So, I watched their videos obsessively and even got my brother addicted to them. So, of course I was very happy when my brother gave me their debut album as an early birthday present last week.

It seems that the CD rarely leaves my player. I listen to it every morning, afternoon and evening. The album’s dance club beats never leave my head and I find myself singing random lines from its infectious songs all the time.

Franz Ferdinand was formed in Glasgow, Scotland in late 2001 by Alex Kapranos and Rob Hardy. A little while after that they met Nick McCarthy who is a classically trained pianist and double bass player. Then along came Paul Thomson the former drummer from Yummy Fur. Most of the guys are artists - Robert went to college for Art and Paul Thomson was a life model for the same college. I think the fact that these fellows are artists really shows in their music.

The whole long drawn out story of the formation of the band is hilarious (you can find it on their UK site). Let's just say it involves alcohol and Nick telling Alex and Rob that he could play the drums when, in fact, he couldn't.

After a few instrument switches they began playing as a band. They would throw wild art/music parties in the abandoned warehouse that they rehearsed in until the police found them. Alex was jailed for running a illegal bar but he and the rest of the band charmed the police out of most of the other charges.

A little while after that they put out a EP that caught the attention of the label Domino. The rest is history.

The album kicks off with the rather subdued opening bit for “Jacqueline”. I love the beginning. It’s very cute and sincere. But the acoustic guitar and quiet vocals are smoothly replaced by a slick bass line that grows gradually louder and faster. Then the electric guitars come in. Yummy.

“It’s always better on holiday
So much better on holiday” They sing cheekily with loads of energy.

This song is wonderfully fun. I love absolutely every little detail about it - especially the way Alex says “money” in the third line of the chorus. In the end they sing that ‘for chips and for freedom they could die’. Man, you’ve got to love strong personal convictions like that.

The next song, “Tell Her Tonight” is even more enjoyable and delightfully odd. It’s starts out with this yummy 70’s dance beat and Queenesqe singing. Then it launches into the chorus that sounds like something you’d find in any song by “The Mamas and The Papas”. These fellows are obviously very musically diverse. This song is pure pop art and I love it to death. The only downside to this song is that it must end at some point. Bah.

“Take Me Out” is a clever little song that could be about either trying to get a date or a firing squad - it’s rather hard to tell. The pulsating beat is the best thing in the song; it’s consistence and strong without ever being headache inducing. Alex’s vocals are wonderful and, at times, kind of remind me of John Lennon and Paul McCartney mixed together with a Scottish accent. I highly recommend checking out the music video for this song - it’s amazing.

And Nick’s guitar’s amazing considering he is a classically trained pianist and double bass player who just decided to pick up the guitar for the group. McCarthy is just a musically brilliant fellow.
“The Dark of the Matinee” is a clever little song. Containing lines like: “Not to look at you in the shoe
But the eyes, find the eyes”

The rhythm’s fab and the music’s just gear. I love the line about BBC2 and Terry Wogan - it’s even better in the music video because they perform that bit in front a huge portrait of him smiling. This song is just a fun romp and the music video is hilarious.

“Auf Achse” starts off like some over dramatic eighties pop balladesqe song but it gets better about a minute into it. There’s this underlying sinster tone to it. Alex sings breathlessly “you see her, you can’t hold her“. It’s the shaky, feverish state of lust/love. He is obsessed with her and has convinced himself that he can’t live without her. Then comes the slap in the face, “She’s not so special - look what you’ve done boy!” He’s crossed the line, he’s hurt her. He hates himself but longs for her still. The last bit of this song is what intrigues me - the bit about him being crucified. It's really haunting and yet so neat at the same time.

"Cheating On You" has so much momentum and energy. Alex and the chaps don their cad personas and cheekily tell their girls that their cheating on them. The drums are so wonderful, Paul Thomson is fantastic (or rather super fantastische). The guitar are whiny and are the driving force in their wonderfully wild song.

“This Fire”

While the music in this song is as just enjoyable as all the other songs on this album it seems to echo the other songs a bit much for me.

"Darts of Pleasure" is another energetic fun song. The bass is fantastic and the guitars whine, moan, and roar. I’ve never heard guitar parts with such personality. This song is funny, chic, stunning, and so bloomin’ edgy. Franz Ferdinand, with this song, have officially become the empitamy of ‘cool’.

"Ich heisse super fantastische, ich Trinke champers mit lafische, Ich heisse super fantastische!!"

The German sang (shouted breathlessly in live performances) is so, well, super fantastische. The translation of it is "I'm called Super-Fantastic - I drink champagne and smoke salmon". Supposedly it’s a very complicated inside joke. Hmm. Also, the chaps have recently recorded an accoustic sister version of this song called “Words So Leisured” which is subdued and romantic.

“Michael” is, erm, well, a song about a guy wanting to dance with a guy in a dance club. And it’s in my top three favorite songs off this album! It’s pretty tastefully done and the music is highly addictive. Alex Kapranos vocals are unforgettable. The music is slick, fabulous with a slightly sinister undertone. They describe it as “fab club, bad pill”.The chorus is simply intoxicating - actually the entire song is very intoxicating. Though I’ve noticed that they rhyme “lips” and “hips” in a few of their other songs but it’s forgivable because the music’s so mind blowingly fun and wonderful.

The music video is a must see as well, the real Michael stars in it. Yes, that’s right, the guy dancing with guy at a drunken party that this song is about did happen. Names were not changed, Alex loves to write songs that he calls ‘public gossip’. In fact, nearly every name mentioned in Franz’s songs is an actually person that the chaps know, events are real as well.

“Come On Home” is currently my favorite song on this album. The vocals remind me of some of the singing styles of the mid seventies rock songs. Alex’s voice on the chorus is has a sweet quality to it. The song has a great rhythm. The drums are amazing - I mean amazing and I only say that about Steve Gadd’s drumming so that’s quite the compliment coming from me. The ending verse is really sweet yet it has a little bit of bite to it as well.

" ' 40 " starts out rather ominously with a drum beat then the electric guitars come in with this mechanical jerky rhythm. Alex starts to sing and there’s an organ playing quietly in the background. Alex slips into that delightful little ‘la la la’ bit and then it goes a little more sinister again then sweet again and so on. The sweet and sinister are perfectly blended on this song.


In the end Franz Ferdinand are extremely musically talented and their debut album is a fun dance album. The only downside to them is that their lyrics aren't very deep at all but I, surprisingly, wouldn’t have it any other way. I can't wait for them to put out another album! This album has won countless awards and honors, as have their music videos. Their American tour sold-out. They have a nice batch of songs for their next album, which should come out in the next year or so. That alone is shocking, mid 2004 their debut comes out and late 2004 they have their next songs written (among which is the intoxicating “This Boy“), a studio booked, and a small handful of tracks already laid. Though we’ve been warned that their next album is not what we’re expecting.

Oh and for those who are wondering if I'll ever say anything further about my opening musing - I'm not going to.

© Willow Child 2004