1 Franz Ferdinand
POP PHENOMENON
Alex Kapranos tells Mark Robertson about a year that has seen his band become a global pop sensafion.
xkimox. coxmonautx and people who liye in cayex. Roughly the demographic lor people who hayen‘t heard ahout l‘ran/ I'erdinand o\er the laxt l3 monthx. ()nly when your .\Ium ix contemplating the underxtated tlL‘Slltclic‘ L‘lt‘gttllc‘c ol' the \\ L‘L‘ UllL‘ \\ llll llIL' [k‘ltc‘il
mouxtache do you truly comprehend the xcale ol‘
thix hand'x wondrotIx uhitluity.
\\'hat ix moxt axtounding. perhapx. ix that alter heeoming a permanent home on \irtually cyery l‘atlio xllow. IV xllti\\. new xpaper xupplement and maga/ine coy er xince laxt .lanuary. w e‘re xtill not xick ol them.
'l‘hal ix to do with a l‘ew thingx: the lack ol‘
genttine xpark in the current pop world. the quartet'x xelllel'l‘acing charm and highly indiyidual xtyle. But it‘x moxtly ahout the xongx. IIL'tIUlIlSIIL‘. I'L‘c‘klcxx al‘alttlolt neyer lliltl xtlc‘ll linely coilliu‘ed outlet.
I‘il'itll/ I‘erdinand did pop with more hookx. more panache and more enthuxiaxm than eyery proxpectiy e Pop Idol entry eyer put together thix year. 'l‘hey are I'm/ pop xtarx l‘or people who hark hack to the day x ol‘ w hen rm/ pop xtarx appeared on your charity xinglex. It wax no coincidence they didn't pop up at the recording ol‘ the new Hand .v\id xingle they were too good to he hanging out with much ol' the majority ol‘ the xtarring lineup.
So let‘xjuxt do a quick check xltttll \\ e . . . lllitl'x a Mercury .\luxic l’ri/e. (i(‘) .\len ol the Year .-\ward. three (irammy nominationx. an MTV .\luxic .-\ward. a Q .\ward. oh. and two million recordx xold worldwide. all in ten xhort monthx xince the releaxe ol‘ their eponymoux dehut. It‘x
relrexhing to note ix that thix ix no product ol~
xome multi-million pound carpet homhing-xtyle marketing campaign. It wax horne out ol‘ genuine e\citement tor the hand and their inuxic. Prior to the releaxe ol‘ l-'I'"x dehut. their lahel l)omino wax a xal'e hayen l‘or the gloriouxly indier-than-thou talentx ol‘ I’a\ement. Smog and the I’axtelx. .-\nd now '.’ Well. they'\ e the new l.ou Barlow xolo
alhum out xoon. .\luxic lanx xigned to a lahel ol
muxic lanx tor muxic lanx. 'l‘hey itth happened to hecome \ery popular. Rock'n'roll ix rarely dixturhed hy inclement
weather. But I‘ran/ lierdinand‘x laxt Iiye xhow ol‘
3003 and lirxt or 2004 at the damp and hluxtery xquih that wax the lidinhurgh Ilogmanay c‘L‘lL‘l‘l'alionx \\;l\ giyen the kyhoxh ill LIUIIC literally the ll.5‘)llt hour. Iiyer the rexoureel'ul [.\l‘ex. the hand decanted to a l'riend'x houxe and play ed a xet in their trout room inxtead. ’l‘hix wax
prohahly the laxt time they would xee the inxide ol' anyonc'x l'ront room. expecially their own. ax they packed their hagx and headed out on the road l'or what wax pretty much an entire year or touring. clocking tip o\ er lell Iiy e xhowx in ey ery poxxihle tlcxllltttliolt. 'I‘llc‘) whipped 'l'okyo into it lren/y. demolixhed Scandinayian IV xhowx and made cloxe perxonal l’riendx out ol (‘onan O'Brien. l)a\ id I.ettcrman. and a large chunk ol' the .\orth .\merican population.
'llectic. Surprixing. Ii\citing. 'l‘hrilling.‘ ix how .v\le\ Kapl'altox defined the hand'x year. lx'apranox and haxxixt Boh llardy were looking decidedly xpritely when I linally caught up with them hackxtage hel'ore one ol' their xhowx at .\lanchexter .-\po|lo a l‘ew w eekx ago. Kapranox I‘UII“ 1” “I” \l'I—‘ilx‘xtion that he‘x ey en ‘at work‘.
‘Il' there'x a lot ol' trayelling then it cant he tiring. hut it‘x not had. Bandx tend to w hinge ahout heing in a hand when they’ye xpent their whole liyex wanting to he in a hand and doing thix xtul‘l'. lt'x ridiculon to do that. He heen more knackered in my lil‘e l’rom haying a crap
ioh and going out partying and going to the crap joh hungoy er.‘
Rarely doex a hand come xo l'ully l’ormed a.x
FRANZ FERDINAND DID POP WITH MORE HOOKS, MORE PANACHE AND MORE ENTHUSIASM THAN EVERY PROSPECTIVE POP IDOL ENTRY PUT TOGETHER THIS YEAR
l'il'alt/ I't‘l'tllliillltl. 'I‘he .xottntl. the look. eyerything ix thoughtlully relined. 'l‘he .\lanicx. the Stone Roxex and Suede all xhone with hlixtering initial promixe hut were hlighted hy ine\perience. egox and drugx. and in .xame caxex ney er recoyered. Kapranox in particular hax cycled around the muxic httxinexx hIock enough timex to know how to handle the hand'x axtronomical xttccc‘xx.
'I think it’x only fair to xay there wax a .xpace in the marketfhe xayx inagnanimouxly. "I‘here \\'th no other hand that were doing our xort ol‘ thing. We don't eyen think ol‘ ourxelyex ax latnoux hut eyery now and then you do get a reminder that you are. People come up to you and want to take a lot ol picturex. In many w ayx it'x heen what we hoped tor and what we really wanted. lt'x not really much or a change from when we were rolling around Scotland in a \an. The touring ix
_iuxt on a higger xcalef
()l‘ courxe. their xhtick could neyer dexcrihed ax hrand new. hut it ix truly inxpired. whether it'x
inxpiring _‘xtl.(lll() at 'l‘ in the Park xinging 'na-na na-na nar nar nar' in the Sunday xun or protnting the major record lahelx‘ late xeaxon xcramhle to xign tip any lad with a guitar and an ill-lilting l\\ L‘L‘tl jacket. ilillc‘} l‘c‘Sl ill the llt‘ltlt ol lil'ilixll muxic with a moyement more emphatic. enticing and pronounced than ('oldplay ‘x glohal domination. and on comparixon inlinitely more appealing.
l’erhapx we xhouldn’t he xo xurprixed at l‘ran/ I'icl'tllltttlltttl'x l'ixe and rixe o\ L‘t' lltc‘ year. il‘x gillxl a caxe ol‘ thingx going to plan. no‘.’ 'l'heir intention wax to ‘make muxic l'or girlx to dance to‘. lnxtead. they tnttxic tor girlx to dance to. hoyx to xwagger to. dadx to httm to and mumx to iron to; the ehulliently hip kidx and the unintentionth geeky dudex can‘t rexixt nodding along in puppy - like unixon.
‘\\'e really wanted to he a pop hand like a popular hand and that‘x xomething that w e're xo chul‘l‘ed ahout.’ .xayx Kapranox. ‘\\'ith xome people there'x xort ol’ xhallow enjoyment ol' the hand and they itth like to xing along to the popular xong. and there are otherx who know eyery'thing and appreciate eyery detail. 'I‘hat wax our real goal. To haye hoth.‘
The quextion. ol courxe. ix can they xuxtain it'.’ It would he near impoxxihle to endure eyerything at itx current leyel and intenxity for much longer. but that‘x not to xay they'll he xtacking .xhelyex hexide .\Iichelle .\IcManux in Sal‘ew‘ay on Byrex Road any time xoon. The new xongx the hand haye dehuted oyer the laxt l‘ew' monthx are certainly reaxxuring. 'l‘hey poxxexx ximilar qualitiex to the trackx on their dehut: oyerllow'ing with thoxe naggineg itchy-xcratchy hookx that made l-run: I'k'n/iuum/ juxt .xo yery addictiye. The hope ix that a .xcattering ol' them will lind their way onto the hand‘x xecond alhum recording ix pencilled in to commence in (ilaxgow in the Spring. 'I'here‘x other amhitioux planx for then. lingerx croxxed they come to lruition.
Nothing ix certain ol courxe. hut like any good pop act continued xuccexx ix only a reinyention away. Kylie. .\Iadonna. I’rince the (me. Depeche Mode. the Beatlex. lily‘ix and many more will attext to that. In the mean time we xhould haxk in the glory that makex them our Ilot ltlll .\'trinhei‘()ne.
Hot 100 entries were written by Tim Abrahams. Kelly Apter, Nick Barley. Steve Cramer. Paul Dale. Ashley Davies, Brian Donaldson, Miles Fielder. Mark Fisher, Ruth Hedges, Doug Johnstone, Carol Main, Kenny Mathieson. Henry Northmore. David Pollock, Allan Radcliffe. Johnny Regan, Donald Reid. Mark Robertson. Barry Shelby, James Smart and Rachael Street. If you disagree with our 100 or think someone is missing, email your comments to us at editorelist.co.uk
3-9, 'fl ca' .223". THE LIST 31