³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

(. That paint is never going to come out of that dress, y'know...)

In recent interviews, Franz have been keen to emphasise how they are moving on from their post-punk disco roots, even claiming that they've dropped the 'scooped hi-hat' from their arsenal of drum effects. For the non-rhythmic, that's the "tsssh" noise on the second and fourth beats of every bar, as used on any funky indie song of the past five years.

Trouble is, they've not changed a whole lot else, and you'd have to be drummer (or an ice-cream man) to notice that the scoops are missing.

In every other respect, this is a very typical Franz Ferdinand song. It's slinky, it's a bit disco, it's a bit guitary, it's anti-macho, but also quite blokey in the chorus. The lyrics point toward sexual politics, and the lack of understanding between boys and girls, but it's not an issue that Alex sounds particularly bothered about.

That camp frostiness only really works when you've got something pretty amazing to say, or you are uncommonly sexy and mysterious and you damn well know it. Franz, for all that they are good-looking fellas, are not enigmatic people. You can see that they are raising a sweat, which destroys the illusion of effortless brilliance. And, as the lyrics are only 60% as clever as they think they are, this just makes them come across as needlessly arrogant. Something which, as people, they clearly are not.

Of course, some of us love them for making that effort, so it's not all bad news. I'd have been happier if this wasn't such an obvious re-tread of 'Take Me Out' though.

Download: Out now
CD Released: 6th April


³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Music page

(Fraser McAlpine)