46. Franz Ferdinand- You Could Have It So Much Better


The hi-hatting brigade moves on. Last year's debut was a somewhat cheesy delight but with competition from likeminded bands like the Killers and Bloc Party were always going to be forced to up the ante from that album. Let's say they have partly succeeded on the back of their knack of writing a slew of potential summerhits without doing too much different. Another saving grace in the face of commercial indie backlash is the tongue-in-cheek approach of singer Alex Kapranos, who doesn't take himself so serious as Julian Casablancas and wins the sceptic over- add to that the groovy guitarwork of Nick McCarthy who keeps his composure- sometimes you wish he'd blast out more. It doesn't matter. FF have maintained momentum for now- not much has changed, now for that difficult third album....