Franz Ferdinand: Where Have the Last 20 Years of Music Gone?

The name Franz always reminds me of that one Dana Carvey/Kevin Nealon skit on Saturday Night Live. And Ferdinand? Well that too has some lasting connotations not at all related to music. When I was a kid, there were a few books I really liked. One was called Mr. Ferdinand Fisk Cat Detective and another one was about the classic flower smelling bull by the name of Ferdinand (The Story of Ferdinand).

However as of late, the names Ferdinand and Franz both have new meanings for me thanks to an appealing new band rising from out of Glasgow, Scotland. While not named after a book or a SNL skit, Franz Ferdinand is titled after an Austro-Hungarian Archduke whose assassination on the streets of Sarajevo sparked the flames that would become World War I. All historically relevant seriousness aside, Franz Ferdinand is one of but a few truly bright lights on the musical horizon. They’ve already made a splash in a huge way across the pond, and are now poised to take America by storm.

Positive word of mouth (which is, in fact, the way I heard of the band) and an EP called Darts of Pleasure helped to land the band a record deal. So now, in early 2004 Franz Ferdinand has scored a few hit singles and even Billboard stateside is taking notice. I have been fooled before by these kinds of claims (see Mogwai, Portishead, Kula Shaker) so I went about my discovery of Franz Ferdinand with great trepidation hoping for the best but (unfortunately and pessimistically) expecting the worst. In the end, I am definitely entertained by the Scots but not blown away by their musicianship. Then again, there’s always something positive to be said for a band that gets me off my seat.

With a sound most similar to the urgent, anxious indie rock of bands like the White Stripes or the Strokes or something of that ilk, the five members still manage to make their material sound new and interesting. A four piece band, Franz Ferdinand consists of singer/guitarist Alex Kapranos, guitarist Nick McCarthy, bassist Bob Hardy, and drummer Paul Thomson. A quirky, light-hearted brand of indie rock the songs contained here are all toe-tappingly great.

The less-than-stellar moments are few and far between. And even when Franz Ferdinand is at their worst, they are still loads better than the vast majority of what can be gotten on mainstream radio and MTV. This Fire and Cheating on You are two of these moments that leave the audience somewhat bored and rather unimpressed. But fortunately for the band the other material is a romping, stomping great time.

Jacqueline is a rousing opening song, but the album really takes off with a trio of outstanding songs--Tell Her Tonight, Take Me Out and The Dark of the Matinee. A confident swagger and wild irreverence are refreshingly reminiscent of the post-punk brilliance of Joy Division and even more so the Pixies. Tell Her Tonight is a guttural, loud, and fantastic song. Take Me Out wields an unforgettable melody and guitar line. Franz Ferdinand, a band of young guys from Scotland, manage to in the same breath be retro and new wave and punk and everything else I could have hoped them to be. The Dark of the Matinee is equally as brilliant and memorable with a groove that stands out wonderfully.

As this debut LP continues on, I am repeatedly reminded that Franz Ferdinand is not a band to be discounted. Auf Achse represents a distinctly dark shift in tone. With an arrangement chock full of synths and emotion, it sounds very much like something from The Cure or even New Order. Even Kapronos sounds rather like Robert Smith, at least he does until the chorus kicks in and the song turns into something else—something deeper and something more evocative than just brooding. Of course, in the next breath the band once again morphs, this time back into a Pixies-like beast on Cheating on You. And while it’s not my favorite offering, it’s still absolutely worth checking out.

Nearing the end, Franz Ferdinand keeps the pace up. Of particular note is Michael a wonderful, rich, evocative post-punk masterpiece. It is, without question one of the most perfect moments on the album. Speaking of perfect, there’s also the synth-dance-rock genius of Come on Home to check out. There’s so little average, much less bad to say about this new band. How can I not love their eponymous debut? It seems impossible…

I’m a bit unhappy with myself for not picking this disc up before it was released to the states. I missed the boat on this one, and instead chose to ignore the hype. Franz Ferdinand is one of those special, hip, slightly quirky sorts of bands that even if they never can reproduce the success of their debut we are left with eleven undeniably engaging songs. So for that, I thank these guys from Glasgow.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Track Listing:
01. Jacqueline
02. Tell Her Tonight
03. Take Me Out
04. The Dark of the Matinee
05. Auf Achse
06. Cheating on You
07. This Fire
08. Darts of Pleasure
09. Michael
10. Come on Home
11. 40’