Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand

Year Released: 2004

Label: Domino

Year Bought: 2004

January 2004. I'd just quit uni. Was back at the family home in Bishop's Stortford. The place I'd been so desperate to get away from, and I was back and already bored.

And then things got a bit less boring. I remember this so clearly. I was having a shower and the radio was on, and on came 'Take Me Out'. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. At first I thought it must be an old tune that had passed me by, but no, it was announced as a new song by a band called Franz Ferdinand. It sounded glorious. It sounded interesting. After the staleness of the post-Britpop years, and beigeness of Coldplay, Travis et al, there was actually a British band doing something interesting.

I loved it, and when the album came out the next month, I gobbled it up with glee.

Listening back now, and I still love it. The hushed opening of 'Jacqueline', the sleaze of 'The Dark of the Matinee', the homoeroticism of 'Michael'. It all still works perfectly. Absolutely no filler.

For me, 'Take Me Out' – and then this album – signaled the true beginning of that wave of bands that would later be dubbed "indie sleaze". It felt like UK music was cool again.

And this album was just so right. It just landed exactly when I needed it. And I am the most important person in the world, obviously.

10/10

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All The Records I've Ever Owned

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