The New in Dance Rock Music

After taking a little over a week off on reviewing (start of baseball season means many afternoon games), I’m back to listening again.  Today’s group hails from Scotland and immediately jumped on my playlists when I heard their first release.  Franz Ferdinand the band formed in Glasgow, Scotland back in 2002.  When I first heard “Take Me Out” back in 2004 (their first single released), I wasn’t sure at first what I thought of their sound, but then I saw the video and had a greater appreciation for the band and the sound.  If I remember correctly, the band was portrayed like paper cutouts and the video was just intriguing.  When I heard “This Fire”, that’s when I really started to like them.

They emerged around the same time that bands like Jet and the Darkness and the Killers emerged, and all of their sounds were similar yet twisted a little differently.  Ok, so maybe the Darkness were out in left field, but you could see the similarities between Jet, the Killers and Franz Ferdinand.  They emanated the rock sound yet embraced unique elements of pop, dance and techno music into their sounds.  Jet was more like AC/DC.  The Killers were a new Duran Duran.  Franz Ferdinand were the Talking Heads.  To me this was a renewal period for rock compared to the stuff that had been popular and had come out the years before.

Franz Ferdinand’s self-titled debut for me was a tour de force and excited me about music.  This record was well received critically and commercially.

#90 – Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand (Metascore = 87)

The album opens with the quiet-to-loud dance of “Jacqueline”, the girl that can twist the thoughts of any man she sets her gaze upon (ask Ivor and Gregor).  The drive of the song—the thumping dance beat and chugging guitars—really make this song.  “Tell Her Tonight” continues this dance about women that allure and confuse the men they’re around.  This same tale continues throughout the record at different paces and different scenes, this search for love and then running away from it.

The strongest songs are “Jacqueline”, “Take Me Out”, “Dark of the Matinée”, “This Fire”, and “Michael” because lyrically they are the deepest and musically they are the most interesting.  For instance, “Take Me Out” starts out fast but then slows down to this churning drum beat and guitar riff on the perils of unrequited love.  “Michael” lyrically is the most interesting and most dirty of all the other songs, with Alex Kapranos detailing a night of debauchery he experienced with several friends when they went out to a disco club in Glasgow.  “This Fire”, like “Take Me Out” had a very cool video; I recommend checking it out if you haven’t seen it.

Some songs fall short here (“Auf Asche”, “Cheating on You”, “Come on Home”), but overall the record is a really solid, danceable record.  Unfortunately, you could not necessarily say the same for the other records they have released.  You Could Have It So Much Better (2005) and Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (2009) were decent records with a couple of good singles amongst them but were not the cohesive effort that their debut was.  I would definitely recommend Franz Ferdinand to hear because it is one of those records that will get you moving right away.