I know, I know. Look, I didn't want to make Franz fucking Ferdinand Single
Of The Week either - but the fact
of the matter remains that they're
neatly-coiffed head and smartly-clad shoulders above the rest of the slack-jawed, hate-fuelled misanthropes who've dragged their weary backsides onto the Singles page elsewhere this week.
It's 'right place, right time' gone mad for Franz Ferdinand these days. Magazines, radio and TV can't get enough of their waxy moustache-twirling tunarisms, while the Honest To Goodness Public are buying their records in numbers that suggest their pointless, hollow lives depend on it.
Is this what they mean by a win/win situation? And are there likely to be finer opening lines to a pop record this year than, "Take your white finger, slide the nail under/The top and bottom buttons of/My blazer"? And, if there is, can someone promise me it'll be set to a verse that's bespectacled, ginger-haired, angular pop funk with crumbs on its top and a chorus that's stridently, poundingly (pan)sexual? And have a slowed-down jazzy drop-out bit in it about meeting Terry Wogan? And can the band dress up a lot? And be interesting? And know about other stuff than shit bands and old records? And can it be played on Radio 4 almost as much as it is on Radio 1? Quite a lot to ask, sure, but if it's going to be anything as good, as instantly loveable and as likely to make you want to greet random strangers with a kindness you'd usually reserve for a cherished pornographer, then it'll need to have its shoes shined and its hair combed to a pretty elevated degree.
'Matinée' will be a massive hit. Franz Ferdinand will
follow it with an even bigger one. Who's ready to take them on? Anyone? Yes yes, put your hand down Johnny Borrell, we've seen you already.
Rob Fitzpatrick
[/url]
Get 'Matinee' at the NME Shop
BUY!
NEW! For the latest music videos and backstage interviews, check out our brand new sister site, NME Video.
- Previous Album Review : Iron & Wine : Our Endless Numbered Days
- Next Track Review: RJD2 : Exotic Talk
Comments do not always reflect the views of NME, or IPC Media, for guidelines visit our Ts & Cs page