Franz Ferdinand - YouCould Have It So MuchBetter

Thu 29th Sep, 2005 in Music Reviews

Franz Ferdinand were a welcome addition to the musical landscape when they first hit the scene, there’s no doubt about it. The overwhelming response they received from all corners of the globe also had a lot more to do with their image than their music, there’s also no doubt about that. The Strokes-induced hangover saw people wearing ripped jeans, styling their hair with beer a la Julian Casablancas and having a permanent three day growth and husky voice all in the name of coolness. But then Franz appeared, all joyful abandon, tight trousers, heeled boots, tight polyester shirts and haircuts so angular the front row of their gigs feared for their safety.

Of course, their self-titled debut album was propelled by that track. That one piece of pop brilliance, heard everywhere from Sports Tonight to indie clubs to commercial nightclubs in the form of horrendous remixes will stand the test of time. The rest of the album was solid, with a few stand out tracks (Darts of Pleasure, 40ft) and some tracks that were no better than any band you’d see playing your local for $7 on a Thursday night (Cheating on You, Tell Her Tonight). They also had odd choices when it came to selecting which songs made the album cut. Two of their most truly exhilarating moments – the funk groove of Love and Destroy and the faux-goth vaudeville fun of Shopping for Blood – were relegated to b-sides while even the most ardent Franz supporter would be hard pressed to claim that the debut was all killer, no filler. But based on that one track and the (largely uncalled for) sexual appeal of wonky-toothed frontman Alex Kapranos, the album sold bucketloads and saw them tour Australia to rapturous applause (and sets that ran for 60 minutes – no more, no less) in July 2004.

Alex and the boys had enough sensibility to realise that the pop world is quite cruel and unforgiving, so they decided to rush out second album You Could Have It So Much Better. After all, The Strokes and The Vines’ second albums bombed after two year waits for each, while the cynics are already queuing up to tear shreds off The Darkness’ sophomore effort, due in November after a two year wait. The band would also have on their mind that while Room On Fire and Winning Days were unfairly maligned, they were actually on level par or superior to their predecessor (Reptilia and Winning Days, respectively, stand as the best songs from either band). Unfortunately, the history of You Could Have It So Much Better to this point has revolved more around the sleeve’s artwork than information about songs. NME took joy in announcing that the band had decided to moniker their second album Franz Ferdinand and simply change the colour of the font from the first album cover. Then they decided to put a girl on the cover. Finally, the album’s title was given. The long saga seems to have taken longer than the time it took to write and record the album. It’s no surprise than Amazon claims “customers who bought music by Franz Ferdinand also bought music by Kaiser Chiefs, The Killers, Bloc Party.” All four are bands with immense pressure to replicate their first album success again, and all four suffer the wraths of the media if they fail to deliver. Luckily for them, Franz released their debut slightly before the other bands’, so while they’re gallivanting around the globe counting the sales from the UK top #5 debut of Do You Want To and preparing for their time in the Australian summer of 2006.

The album is bookended by killer tracks. Opener The Fallen reflects a slightly darker edge to the band. The duel guitar assault of Kapranos and Nick McCarthy squeals over a funky bassline while Kapranos slurs “what’s wrong with a little destruction?” while the chorus builds and builds as he whinges about “all the things that bring the idiots joy,” all coupled with a “la-la-la” breakdown that just begs for audiences to scream it back at Kapranos. It’s as close to epic as Franz Ferdinand have gotten, and it’s also one of their finest moments and has been hallmarked as a future single. At the opposite spectrum, final track Outsiders is the track that Scissor Sisters forgot – one of the funkiest basslines in recent memory, some spooky quiet interludes and one of the few Franz tracks when the band doesn’t feel obliged to turn their amplifiers up to 11 for the chorus - and all the better for it.

It’s not entirely good news, though. The grammatically-challenged Do You Want To, the album’s first single, is an obvious attempt to re-create Take Me Out through mixing together tempos, speeds and styles into a 3.40 minute pop song. But while Take Me Out’s refrain of ”I know I won’t be leaving here with you” is a world away with Do You Want To’s cringeworthy offering of “lucky, lucky, you’re so lucky!” (repeat ad nauseum). And while Franz used to revel in its art-school roots, they instread turn around to mock them in Do You Want To, with a sly Kapranos droning “I love your friends, they’re all so arty” as if he wouldn’t want to sit around and talk European history with them over some fine caviar. In the same line, You’re The Reason I’m Leaving and What You Meant are Franz Ferdinand by numbers, neither causing enough of an impact to be considered highlights.

Of course, there are highlights. This Boy offers the grunt and spark of the band’s best moments, with spot-on harmonies, frantic guitars albeit coupled with the slightly strange refrain of “I got a car!” Well That Was Easy once attempts the changing-tempos thing and pulls it off better than Do You Want To; just when you think you’ve got the track pigeon-holed as a mid-tempo Franz rocker, Kapranos slows it down and urges “kill me now, kill me now” and some (albeit awful) falsetto. The slightly menacing Evil and a Heathen (well, as menacing as a Scotsman in well-fitted slacks can be) is a definite highlight. The band claimed in interviews prior that the album would be driven by the powerful basslines of Bob Hardy, but Heathen is one of the few tracks which the bass dominates. The whole track sounds like it’s been thrown to a vocoder, lending an odd sense of darkness and a catchy chorus. The title track wouldn’t sound out of place on a college radio station, all aggressive “get up! get up!” orders and some of the angriest riffs we’ve heard from the band.

To the band’s credit, they have attempted a few different things on their second effort. Whilst they haven’t stretched their talents as far as takes on white-boy rapping (hello River Cuomo). And they do it well. Kapranos shows his true songwriting skills on Elanor, Put Your Boots On (written about his partner, The Fiery Furnances’ Elanor Friedberger), Fade Together and Walk Away.  The former, a track Kapranos claims is intensely personal, is one of the most gorgeous songs of the year. A track that would slot nicely into the White Album, Boots is all acoustic guitar and cute keyboard lines, and you know what? It’s one of the catchiest tracks Franz Ferdinand has released. Walk Away, oddly placed on the album in between some crashing rockers, is a lament to a lost love.

“I must be strong
and stay an unbeliever
and love the sound of you walking away
mascara bleeds into my eye”

Kapranos croons before coming out with the belter line “and as you walk away – Radio 4 is static.”

So, the final verdict. First, the bad news. There’s certainly no Take Me Out Mk II here. There are several tracks worthy of the skip button, and some of the Franz Ferdinand by numbers tracks are disappointing. But that said there are some fine, fine tracks on You Could Have It So Much Better. If you’re after an album to chuck in the car over summer and have a singalong, this is it. But if you’re after the saviours of modern rock it’s time to look elsewhere.

As for me, I’ll be waiting for Franz Ferdinand – The Acoustic Album. I think it’s going to be a good ‘un.