Number 37
'Franz Ferdinand' by Franz Ferdinand
Trotter’s Top Ten position : 8 in 2004
UK Chart high : 3 in 2004
I damned this with faint praise back in 2004 when I said the 'album's not as great as their singles' but going back and listening to their debut I was surprised at how many singles (or songs that were so familiar) there are on it. There's much more strength in depth here than I originally gave the poor lads credit for, so it's actually made it far higher in this end of decade countdown than I'd initially reckoned. People tend to forget what a big impact 'Take Me Out' had on music at the time, crossing effortlessly into the mainstream and high up the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. I also admired the fact that they revelled in making intellegent pop that was both catchy and boundary-pushing (case in point 'Michael') in a way not really seen since Pulp's heyday - with a similarly quotable frontman. Typically British, with tongue firmly in cheek but brain definitely engaged, they were a breath of fresh air when most indie bands were trying their best to appear laddish and thick (whether they were or not). With 'Take Me Out' they not only wrote one of the best tempo changes in modern music but surely made one of the most iconic videos of the decade. They also were responsible for improving GCSE History grades across the country by making the 'Whose death triggered WWI?' question an absolute doddle.
Look at Take Me Out ; The Dark of the Matinee ; Darts of Pleasure ; Michael
Listen to a sampling of the Top Fifty on Spotify as we go or the 'one from each album' version
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