Franz Ferdinand is an indie rock band from Glasgow, Scotland, formed in 2002. The band’s eponymous debut album released in 2004 debuted on the UK album charts at number three, and won the 2004 Mercury Music Prize. So far, the band has released nine singles of which Take Me Out, Matinée, and Do You Want To were top 10 hits in the UK.

The band followed the album up in 2005 with their album You Could Have It So Much Better, from which Do You Want To, Walk Away, the double A-side EP The Fallen / L. Wells, as well as Eleanor, Put Your Boots back on, have all been lifted as singles (although L. Wells was not included on the album).

The band consists of Alex Kapranos (guitar/vocals), Nicholas McCarthy (guitar/backing vocals/keyboard), Paul Thomson (drums/backing vocals), and Robert Hardy (bass). The band has also adopted a new member, Andy Knowles, ex-drummer of The Fiery Furnaces. Andy plays guitar, drums, and keyboard.

Check out earlier incarnations, when some of them had their own bands: The Yummy Fur, The Amphetameanies and The Karelia.

The band released their fourth and final single from You Could Have It So Much Better, a re-recorded, more ‘poppish’ version of Eleanor Put Your Boots On, on July 17. They also are participating in the Save the Children charity album “Colours are Brighter” with the song ‘Jackie Jackson’.

They are planning to start working with their third album in January 2008. On this album, they will focus more on the bass and the drums.

Their song Do You Want To was used as ending in the Japanese Anime “Paradise Kiss”, inspired by the Ai Yazawa’s very famous Manga

The band’s name is in reference to the Archduke of Austria-Hungary whose murder triggered the First World War, though the bandmembers claim they got it from a race horse with the same name. The song Take Me Out has a constant subtle reference to his assassination. Phrases like “I’m just a crosshair” “Just a shot away” reference his and his wife’s bloody shooting in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, but the song All For You, Sophia makes explicit remarks about the assassination of the archduke.

Their official website: www.franzferdinand.co.uk

---

All information gotten from wikipedia.org and Last.fm