Franz Ferdinand
By All Music Guide
By All Music Guide
The Chateau became Franz Ferdinands headquarters, where they rehearsed and held rave-like events incorporating music and art (Hardy graduated from the Glasgow School of Art, and Thomson also posed as a life model there). The bandmembers needed a new rehearsal space once their illicit art parties were discovered by the police, and they found one in a Victorian courthouse and jail. By summer 2002, they recorded an EPs worth of material that they intended to release themselves, but word of mouth about the band spread and Franz Ferdinand signed to Domino in the summer of 2003. The groups EP Darts of Pleasure, which led some to label Franz Ferdinand the Scottish Interpol, was released that fall, and the band spent the rest of the year supporting groups such as Hot Hot Heat and Interpol. Franz Ferdinands second single, Take Me Out, arrived in early 2004. The single propelled them to greater popularity in the U.K. and laid the groundwork for the bands debut album. Franz Ferdinand was released in February 2004 in the U.K. and a month later stateside. Franz Ferdinands success followed them across the pond; Take Me Out became a sizeable modern rock hit, in part thanks to the songs cutting-edge video, which earned the Breakthrough Video award at that years MTV Music Video Awards. The groups momentum continued with the release of the Michael single and their Mercury Prize win over such artists as the Streets, Basement Jaxx, and Keane. Franz Ferdinand released their second album, You Could Have It So Much Better in fall 2005.
