Franz Ferdinand – You Could Have It So Much Better

Ah, another Franz Ferdinand album just 15 months after their brilliant debut, and I’m in heaven! I admit I’ve only listened through this sophomore effort half dozen times. They say in the title of this new release we could have it “so much better” – that would be an incredible feat considering this is pretty damn good as it is.

FF’s debut was post-punk music with accents of New Wave and surf pop, like a Scottish version of the 80s band The Knack. This one is a bit rougher – they’ve traded Ray Davies and The Kinks in for a bit more Iggy Pop and punk-age David Bowie. Still, the surf pop is there, and this album – though borrowing from earlier styles – is it’s own unique amalgamation.

One thing that’s always impressed me is Franz Ferdinand’s commitment to messing around with key changes and tempo shifts in the middle of songs. Most other punk bands leave these flourishes to their more artsy counterparts. Franz attacks these with a deft sense of individualism that makes for songs that aren’t always exactly melodic or catchy, but something distinctly left-of-center. More so in this album, the band takes these risks with reckless abandon and a ragged edge. In fact, the constant sawing of this guitar-heavy experimentation can lead to a bit of listener overload by the middle of the disc. I found myself hoping for a simple ballad a couple songs before I got one.

Still, upon repeated listening, these tunes will drill themselves into your brain as effectively as the best crafted pop songs. Nifty hooks and sing-along choruses (along with lots of “doo-doos” and “la la las”) help a lot.

Thematically, the songs seem to be about severely dysfunctional relationships, extreme bipolar behavior, and destruction of public property mixed with a tongue-in-cheek love of material culture and hard partying. In other words, lyrically, this album obviously references the rock stars of the 80s.

I’m still listening, but the early prognosis on this harder, edgier Franz Ferdinand is very favorable.