w/the Lights
Tues March 23, Crocodile, 8:30 pm, $10.
Glasgow: All you have to do is mention that a band is from there and it's a given they will be nothing short of awesome. And then there's the loveable accent possessed by every Glaswegian native. Male or female, it's swoon-worthy.
Dubbed the best new band in Britain by the frothing music press (you don't say), Franz Ferdinand (singer Alex Kapranos, bassist Bob Hardy, drummer Paul Thomson, and guitarist/organist Nick McCarthy) took a bit of time to get to where they are today. Before assuming a name inspired by the Austrian archduke or a racehorse (depending on the story), some of the members were in a band called Yummy Fur, and their sound, and maybe a bit of their aesthetic, was miles away from the raucous, sexy pop they're receiving rave reviews for these days. Early on in the Yummy Fur days, the band were about lo-fi, art-school brainy stuff, not exactly a genre that lends itself to the masses. Eventually, and after becoming disillusioned, Yummy Fur threw in the towel on the arty stuff and gave in to pop's expansive charms. And they made the change so well you can't help but love their self-titled new record--and be turned on by the songs contained within.
Kicking off with "Jacqueline," the song's protagonist, Ivar, is nothing short of a prick. "Working on a desk/When Ivar/Peered above a spectacle/forgot that he had wrecked a girl." Seduction happens in "The Dark of the Matinee" ("You take your white finger/slide the nail under/the top and bottom buttons of my blazer/relax the fraying wool, slacken ties/and I'm not to look you in the eye"). Those deeply arousing lyrics opening the song make it hard to stay unexcited. Then there's "Cheating on You," an ode to that all too common type of escapism found in the Northwest, when you realize you've fallen in love: "Goodbye girl/You know you own me/Yes I'm a loser," and because he knows it's love, he goes ahead and cheats on her.
Along with lyrics to get you all hot and bothered, the band also employ a dance beat, causing an effect on the body similar to that of acts like Pulp, Talking Heads, Pop Will Eat Itself's Cure for Sanity, and, god help me, the Pooh Sticks, circa "Young People."
