3.5/5 stars
Collaborations often don’t work, but it seems Scotland’s Franz Ferdinand and glam rockers Sparks didn’t get the memo. Heck, they even went and wrote a whole silly song about it. Said track is a seven-minute epic that sounds like something by Monty Python, and the other 11 songs on their cheekily titled album, FFS, continue in much the same vein and style.
This supergroup makes a bold and creative statement by sticking its middle fingers up at conventional song structures and adding quirky lyrics and instrumentation. The music is still predominantly pop, from the synth to disco varieties and everything in between. It’s all rather idiosyncratic and fun. On ‘So Desu Ne’, notes are bent backwards and forwards to make the most warped pop licks, while singles ‘Johnny Delusional’ and ‘Call Girl’ are ornate pop; busy tunes that see Alex Kapranos and Russell Mael trading witty repartee.
If you can get past the many different ingredients, there is much to enjoy, as the clever pop and tongue-in-cheek humour prevail.
Ultimately, this album shows two bands living it up, having fun and quite simply not giving a flying fuck what anyone thinks. And somehow, it all works.
