The Cavern
Rock & Words
FRANZ FERDINAND
“I swapped my innocence for pride
Crushed the end within my stride
Said I'm strong now I know that I'm a leaver
I love the sound of you walking away, you walking away”
“D”
Main Decade: 00’s
Main Eras:
Indie (2001-???)
Key Members:
Alex Kapranos, Vocals, Guitar
Bob Hardy, Bass
Nick McCarthy, Guitar, Keyboards
Paul Thomson, Drums
Key Songs:
Take Me Out, This Fire, Eleanor Put Your Boots On, Walk Away, Do You Want To, The Dark of the Matinee, The Fallen, Come On Home, What You Meant, The Fallen, What Do You Mean, Ulysses, Outsiders, I’m Your Villain, Michael, No You Girls, No You Girls, Outsiders
Franz Ferdinand was the spearhead of a movement that, while not definitively rescuing Rock from its grave, did give it a breath of fresh air at a time when everything sounded recycled and bland.
During the 90s, the members of Franz Ferdinand were scattered across Scotland in different bands like Karelia, Yummi Fur, and Embryo. Around 2002, Alex Kapranos, singer and guitarist, was playing with drummer Paul Thompson in Yummi Fur. They had already written some original songs, so they both started playing guitar. Kapranos himself encouraged his friend Bob Hardy to learn bass after buying one from an acquaintance. It was also Alex who recruited guitarist Nick McCarthy after they met at a party and almost came to blows because Nick was stealing his vodka. The incident didn't escalate because Nick lied about knowing how to play drums (it wasn't true; he had been studying bass in Germany). This is how they discovered their shared affinity for music that made girls dance, and Alex convinced him to join the band. After it became clear that drumming wasn't his forte, Nick switched positions with Paul Thompson and took over on guitar, thus forming the lineup we know today.
With the lineup complete, they decided to take the name Archduke after a racehorse of that name, then extended it to Archduke Franz Ferdinand due to the historical significance of his assassination, which sparked World War I. Finally, they dropped "Archduke" and settled on just Franz Ferdinand, which initially caused some confusion as people thought it was the name of the lead singer and frontman. Franz Ferdinand began performing in clubs in Glasgow, Scotland, and quickly gained recognition for their unique, fresh, and audacious sound. Originally, their only intention was to make dance music, mainly to pick up girls, but the sheer number of influences each member brought, ranging from Television, Talking Heads, Duran Duran, Roxy Music, Travis, and Blur, resulted in an ambivalent sound. The band's music can be considered light, fun, and cheeky, with no greater ambition than to make songs to get girls dancing in clubs, but at the same time, it displays a great intelligence in the construction of structures and arrangements, resulting in a sophisticated sound with retro touches that goes far beyond typical rock-pop.
In May 2003, Laurence Bell was impressed with their sound and signed them to release their first EP on the independent label, Domino Records. The EP, Darts of Pleasure, was released at the end of 2003 and achieved some chart success, but it also earned them the first of many awards to come, from New Musical Express magazine.
Following the success of their EP, the band went to Sweden to record their self-titled debut album with producer Tore Johanssen. They released the single “Take Me Out” as a lead single in January 2004, and it was a smash hit that paved the way for the album, released in February. The album was a worldwide success, reaching the top of the charts, but it had a very slow start in the United States. It wasn't until the “Take Me Out” video aired on MTV that it took off in North America, around the middle of the year. Critics lauded them, and the album won numerous awards, including the Mercury Music Prize, NME's Album of the Year, and the MTV Video Music Award for “Take Me Out,” among others. Other tracks released as singles included “This Fire” and “The Dark of the Matinee.” Overall, the entire album became ubiquitous on radio stations worldwide.
Following the success of their debut album and the subsequent tour, Franz Ferdinand returned to the studio and spent months recording their second album, You Could Have It So Much Better, released in October 2005. The sound of the second album was slightly more polished, although it was essentially a continuation of their debut. This resulted in both praise and criticism, although personally, I find it to be a slightly superior album overall, with a more mature band and more high-quality songs, though none quite reaching the heights of "Take Me Out" among rock fans. However, it features the beautiful ballad "Eleanor Put Your Boots On," with its notable Beatles influence, in which the band steps outside their usual style and comfort zone, creating one of their best songs ever. The album reached number 1 in several countries, and the tour was once again quite extensive, after which the band took a break.
The third album wasn't released until 2009. Tonight So took four years to come after its predecessor, and there were rumors that internal conflicts had fractured the group after only two albums. The truth is, the group started recording it in late 2007. The new album was a departure from the previous ones. It wasn't a true version of Tonight So, but a lighter, more danceable album focused on the beat and rhythms, representing a significant step backward from the maturity the band had achieved. The album is enjoyable, but too lightweight, with few songs strong enough to be considered great… Perhaps "Ulysses" and "Send Him Away" are the most decent, but still far from the level of the first two albums. The band showed they were on the decline, chasing dollars and pounds by doing a cover of Britney Spears' "Womanizer"!! Ewwwww!!! That's a terrible way to lose their style, whether it was meant as a joke or not. The band played at festivals, appeared on TV, and even opened for Green Day on some dates of their tour.
In short, their last album was a disappointment, and the band has clearly declined, losing that bold, guitar-driven identity they had at the beginning. Franz Ferdinand has much more potential than what they showed on *Tonight* to avoid becoming just another promising act. But it seems they've joined the crisis that has affected the rest of the indie bands from that first wave: The Killers, The Strokes, and to a lesser extent, Kings of Leon.
They've supposedly been working on their fourth album since early 2010, but so far there's no sign of it. We'll have to wait and see if they redeem themselves and establish themselves as a strong band, or if they remain just that: the breath of fresh air for rock they were in the mid-2000s, opting for the easy, commercial path, and ending up as a pseudo-rock, Scottish version of Britney Spears. God catch us confessed!
By Corvan
Aug/28/2011
