Franz Ferdinand |
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Firstly I’d like to give credit to both Domino Records and Franz Ferdinand for this one. You can’t really begrudge them their recent success of ‘Take Me Out’, because both parties have put in so much hard work over the years, so it’s not exactly overnight success. Neither should it be regarded as a sell-out. Between them they’ve pulled something special out of the hat, but mainly it’s down to good timing that’s without any great master plan or conceited ploy to back it up. And to be especially fair to lead singer, Alex Kapranos, who has been plying his brand of quirky indie-rock in Scotland for many years, long before Franz Ferdinand ever crawled out of a crack in Garnethill, it seems that if anything, he’s been waiting for this opportunity to come along as if it were a night bus in Glasgow, and instead of giving in and trying to find a quicker way to get to where he wants, he has stuck by what he believes in and kept on playing music he likes. I can’t fault that, and the end result is that now in 2004 Franz Ferdinand are poised to take over the world. Does this mean I like the music? Well…not quite.
I will confess that ‘Darts of Pleasure’ is a bloody infectious song, which was a great introduction to the band. The chorus manages to hook even a cynic like me every time. Then of course there is the recent “Chart Monster”, also known as ‘Take Me Out’, which reels you in slowly, before morphing into an unstoppable pop song. So let me just put that to the side because I cannot dispute it. After two strong singles, the music world is waiting patiently for the album, but do they really need it?
Not me personally it seems. Sure, there are a scattering of songs of similar stature to the singles. Opener ‘Jacqueline’ bodes well on energy levels alone, and ‘Auf Achse’ has an interesting sound with yet another strong chorus. But then come along the tracks like ‘Cheating On You’ and ‘Tell Her Tonight’, which verge on repulsive and third-rate in comparison. Yes, they have a strong drum beat to get your feet tapping no matter if you love it or hate it, but they are dramatically weaker overall. Even lyrically, the repetitive choruses are just one grade above the Electric Six, only with less humour to save them. What it means is, rather than being an album to change the face of music in 2004 like some people seems to believe, it’s really just an album that is worth dipping in and out of.
At their best, Franz Ferdinand produce some mighty rock and dance beats, and they mix it with a range of quirky guitar riffs, which inevitably makes the listener want to dance, and play the song over and over. I have no doubt the singles will be storming indie discos for some time to come. At their worst, though, the band don’t only sound like dated ’80s pop, but are as vocally annoying as The Divine Comedy.
No matter what, potential fans are going to be curious enough to buy the album based on what they’ve heard so far anyway, thus making this review redundant, so I’ll just leave the indie kids to their games, and I’ll go off and make some plans for Nigel.
Steven McCarron
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