Franz Ferdinand: “You Could Have it So Much Better”
THE CD: “You Could Have it So Much Better” (Domino) (To be released Oct. 4)
PERFORMER: Franz Ferdinand
Albums this good should be free.
“You Could Have it So Much Better” is an apt title for the follow-up to Franz Ferdinand’s 2004 self-titled debut. As spectacular as that album was, the Scottish quartet’s newest effort makes it seem cheap and uninspired. It was a fantastically rendered tribute to the band’s ’80s pop and dance club sensibilities, but their musical path seemed chosen.
Fie! We now know Franz can do anything. From the opening funky guitar slides on “The Fallen” to the discoed-out Steve Miller sorrow of the last track “Outsiders,” this record plows through a tonal library as near perfect as is possible.
Talking Heads-style
The band’s bouncy ’80s roots are still very much evident, but the result is adventurous rather than nostalgic, thanks to some sound manipulation and exploration of other eras.
On songs like “Evil and a Heathen,” the usually boyish riot voice of Alexander Kapranos is distorted to sound genuinely menacing over the deep pounding of a Radar Love-like beat. Guitarist Nicholas McCarthy again suppliments the lyrics seemingly by syllable; however, his sometimes tinny squeals from last year have evolved into a strong bellow.
Songs like “Do You Want To” are heavily disco. “Eleanor Put Your Boots On” and “Fade Together” resemble the same piano-driven, Brit-pop ballads the Beatles did so well. And yet, the band can in the next moment deliver a song like “You Could Have it So Much Better,” a Talking Heads replica true to the style that made their first album so enjoyable, but done twice as well this time.
They said we could have it better and we do. But damn if there isn’t only one way a band could make such strides in just one year.
Gladly see you in hell, Franz.
– By Morgan Kelly
