Franz Ferdinand: Isn't He Dead Already?

Franz Ferdinand: Isn't He Dead Already?
by Martell

Franz Ferdinand are a bunch of wankers. That was my initial thought upon listening to their self-titled debut album, and I didn't even know they were from the UK. Start with the band name--who else but a bunch of wankers would name themselves after the Austrian Archduke whose assassination sparked World War I? Then, the album opens with a short, artsy segment which seems to be included just to show off how "talented" the group is. Wankers! Finally, the songs are filled with convoluted rhymes, foreign phrases, backward lyrics and forced attempts at poetic imagery, this time to show off how smart and clever they are. Wankers!!!

I didn't know too much about the band, so I checked out their website. There they have a tongue-in-cheek autobiography that is actually pretty funny. It's vaguely reminiscent of Monty Python, only not quite as random. Much to my surprise, near the end of the biography, they derisively call some London record producers wankers! Didn't they know that THEY were the wankers?!? Evidently not.

Franz Ferdinand's music isn't too bad, especially if you like Brit Pop. They're already better than Elastica ever was (the song "Connection" notwithstanding) and are rapidly closing in on Blur as well. They presently have two songs getting airplay on U.S. alternative music stations--the Art Wave hit "Darts of Pleasure" and "Take Me Out," which, with its tempo and melody change in the middle, is really like two songs in one. I think the first half of "Take Me Out" is the more interesting of the two. There are a couple other tracks ("Tell Her Tonight," "Cheating On You") that could become hits on this side of the pond as well.

For a band that has only been around for three years and has only one full-length album, Franz Ferdinand sure seems to have quite a following. Along with their official website, there is also another fan-club style website, glowing reviews on Amazon UK and an equally glowing review on allmusic.com. Myself, I just don't get it. From what I understand, they get a lot of credit in the UK for "keeping it real," singing about going on "holiday" and being on BBC2 and all, instead of trying to be the British White Stripes. Which is fine. I'm all for originality. Except that in their staunch effort to be entirely un-White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand ends up missing out on the honesty and soulfulness that makes Jack White's music so great.

What is Franz Ferdinand's place in history? It would be a ridiculous question, if they weren't being painted by the critics as the face of a bold, new British Invasion. For me, I'd like to see a little more from them first, but they've made a bit of a splash so far. Like I said before, they're already on the verge of being better than Blur. Which begs the question: Exactly how good is THAT?

Martell can be reached at martell@babblog.com.