![]() We recorded as live as possible, without a click track to keep us in tempo. It was nice to be home but it had also been hard to find a similar studio in the UK for the same money. We recorded at Gula Studion in my home town, Malmö in Sweden, which had a great 1970s console and a big sounding room. I wanted to give listeners the loudness of a live gig. The main thing I added was an aggressive sound. I’d been much more creative when I produced the Cardigans. I think that got me the job of producing them, but I didn’t have to change much. Before working with them, I saw the band live and told them I liked the Talking Heads vibe some songs had and suggested we explore that. Otherwise, Take Me Out was great on the demo and already had the marvellous intro in a different tempo. It was a good hook but I thought it sounded like a bagpipe melody. I don’t remember hating Take Me Out! But I certainly didn’t like the famous guitar riff. Photograph: Tabatha Fireman/Redferns Tore Johansson, producer When we recorded it, Tore Johansson, the producer, hated it and kept asking: “Why are we recording this? The other songs are so much better.”įranz Ferdinand at the Mercury Music awards in 2014. ![]() When you come up with a song like that, the dreamer in you is thinking: “One day, we’ll play this in Mexico City.” But the realist thinks, “We’ll press up 500 copies and sell 35”, which is what had happened with all the other bands I’d been in. The first time we played the whole song in the rehearsal room, I joked: “This would sound really good on the radio.” But I was thinking of a session on John Peel or something – if we were lucky. We thought it would be funny to spoof the sounds you got on Queen records or the beginning of Eye of the Tiger. The short staccato bursts of sound – where you hit a cymbal and hold it to stop it resonating – came about because Bob Hardy, our bass-player, had read an article about “sports rock”, the music played at sports games in the US. The tempo of the chorus was much slower than the verse, so I suggested playing all the verses at the beginning, but slower, then the choruses. The band returned to the stage for a four-song encore, ending on a high note with “This Fire.” The crowd at the Pony jumped and jostled their way through the rowdy track before spilling out onto Ocean Avenue in the small hours.The “I know I won’t be leaving here with you” section formed a bridge between the verse and chorus, but when we rehearsed it with the band, it didn’t sound right. The band worked through favorites from across their decade long career, from 2005 release “Walk Away” to debut record banger “Michael.” Kapranos’s voice is instantly charming – there’s a showy, almost cabaret quality, that lends each lyric a certain wryness. While this early inclusion of the band’s most commercially successful songs would be a bold choice for an upstart group, Franz Ferdinand was a veteran outfit performing before a crowd of die-hard fans. Surprisingly, the band delivered a triad of their most popular songs, “No You Girls,” Grammy-nominated single “Do You Want To,” and “Take Me Out” in the middle of their set. Performed live, the production heavy “Paper Cages” sounded better than it does on the record, infused with immediacy via Paul Thompson’s tight drum work. The chunky art-rock guitar work of Kapranos and new member Dino Bardot was note perfect. The Pony was filled to the brim, and fans erupted into singing as the band powered through “Lazy Boy” and deep cut “The Dark of the Matinée.”įrontman Alex Kapranos led the band with riotous energy, jump kicking his way through the set and dancing through each lyric. After a distortion-heavy set from San Francisco based band POW!, FF took the stage and immediately launched into the title track from their latest release. After a five year absence, the band released Always Ascending in February, their fifth studio album. ![]() On Friday night August 10, Franz Ferdinand made their first visit to Asbury Park, performing a sold-out show at the Stone Pony. Words: Christian Bischoff | Photos: Al Mannarino Pop Break Live: Franz Ferdinand at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ
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