I hate Franz Ferdinand

Discussion
1

Seriously, why does every two-bit hack and his dog think so highly of these no-talent ass johnny-come-lately Jarvis Cocker impersonators?

They are soooo flavour of the month. So pedestrian. So geared towards pleasing the hipster doofus indie rock party crowd. They have nothing to say, their songs are boring and they look like the freakin’ college math alumni on a rare night out at at ‘Boogie Nights’ themed disco.

The only good thing to come out of all this is that before long nobody will remember who they are.

Can somebody let me know as to what I’m missing here? Am I going senile in my old age?

Where’s Sephen O’Malley when ya need him?

!!!

2

you mean like the faint, arcade fire, the mooney suzuki, the strokes, death cab, etc, etc?

yeah i dont get it either. i mean even nin look ilke these bands now - sad.

jarvis cocker did it ages ago too - almost a decade and the pulp were good at what they did. cocker had talent.

it’s interesting, because, like the grunge movement (which was weak, essentially), they don’t really know what they stand for. politics? no. social issues? no. sex, even? no.

whining posers? yep.

it’s dying down, at least from where I am, which is good enough for me.

there is nothing original with these acts, or the fashion, but as with downtimes in music, people get bored and latch onto the past, i suppose. the other funny thing is that these aren’t high school kids - they’re “adults”.

Although, I must admit, I didn’t mind Interpol when they first came out (didnt bother listening to their albums after the first one), and I didn’t mind the faint, but their melodies do get obnoxious after a few listens. So, I got bored of these acts pretty quickly and easily.

3

I still like Interpol. Every time I hear Turn On The Bright Lights, I think of Joy Division, The Chameleons, and Kitchens Of Distinction. That can’t be a bad thing, or can it? I saw them open for The Cure at last year’s Curiosa festival, and they were outstanding. They’ve been one of the more promising new bands to me, but they’re definitely facing an identity crisis with their sound.

I do think that most of the New Wave revival bands have pretty much sentenced themselves to a short shelf life. I like one or two Franz Ferdinand songs, but that’s about it. I’ve heard The Bravery, The Arcade Fire, and The Killers’ albums, and they’re all just forgettable affairs, with nothing, er, ‘special’ to offer.

Would someone to explain to me what’s so great about the White Stripes? I fail to understand what’s so ‘genius’ about their bland, minimalist garage rock (maybe it’s just Rolling Stone Magazine’s fault)? I’d like to think that I’m pretty good about picking out the subtleties in a well-written song, but c’mon! Their music is boring, boring, BORING.

1002

4

Would someone to explain to me what’s so great about the White Stripes?

yeah i wanna know that too.

5

Would someone to explain to me what’s so great about the White Stripes?

As with most bad or mediocre forms of music out there, it’s shoved down people’s throats. MTV, Radio - they just play this pointless stuff over and over. Why? Because they are bribed to do so. I’m not making this up: the states NY and Florida (amongst others, I think) sued Sony Records for this and got $10 million out of it. But this was obvious that it was going on.

Personally, I gave up on US Radio years ago. I am not talking of satellite radio - that’s completely different. I’m talking of mainstream radio. Sure, there are some very decent college stations around, but they don’t seem to find the bands they once did a while ago.

I used to live in Buffalo where they had “Mandatory Metallica” (come on!) and they would play nin’s Closer censored, or Down In It, over and over. This was even after The Fragile was released.

I miss European Radio. The BBC had shows such as John Peel, and many others that would find hard to find artists and expose them. They did it to a lot of bands. The BBC is just an example. It is also 100% commercial free. They had shows for every form of music as did their music TV shows, like “Top of the Pops”, or “Chart Attack”. On Chart Attack, I remember they used to play videos from the top 20 different chart categories: dance, hip-hop, electronic, metal, etc. This was very cool.

No matter how much I hear a US radio station is cool, I hardly think it’s to that level at all. Not even close.

However, satellite radio…this has extremely good potential. If I commuted everyday in the car, I would purchase this. No censorship, no bribing, etc. The way radio is supposed to be! Anyone have it? Any good?

Maybe I am bitter: last week, they changed the format of a local Metal station here in Chicago, to Oldies. Sigh…Not a big fan of what they played, but it was different and liberal and they didn’t drown you with ads.

6

you mean like the faint, arcade fire, the mooney suzuki, the strokes, death cab

How do you categorize these bands? Can’t quite put my finger on it. It’s not quite indie rock (which fucken kicked butt in the eighties thanks to the likes of Sonic Youth, Butthole Surfers and Dinosaur Jr etc), it’s too…er…‘arty’ for pop and too pop for art-rock. College rock? They’re all big with college audiences who think they’re too cool for REM and U2, but have never heard of…say…Lightning Bolt or Animal Collective or whatever.

But y’know, to be honest I don’t think I’ve heard much of the material of those bands you’ve mentioned. Like Deathcab For Cutie. Who the hell are these guys all of a sudden? Weak as piss they are. So tepid. So predictable. They will have a ‘nice’ little career and be a mere footnote in the annals of alternative rock history.

I was on a tour through Russia and Scandanavia earlier this year and there were all these American nineteen year old college twits who were raving about Death Cab For Cutie and how I couldn’t possibly not like them if I was into alternative music. Then one of them had the nerve to try and convince me that The Pixies were ‘artrock’ and I was forced to hit him with my shoe.

7

Bleh…as for Franz Ferdinand, “Take Me Out” was an alright song. Nothing great, but if I heard it on the radio I wouldn’t change the station, i.e. it’s a cut above the rest of the shite on the radio. All their other songs suck though, and their new release is bollocks.

As for Interpol sounding like Joy Division…very much a bad thing. I can just imagine playing JD or something and some nob going “Oh my gawd…who are these guys…Joy Division? They sooo ripped off Interpol’s sound” (This hasn’t happened yet, but considering that no-one I know even knows that Joy Division is a band, it WILL happen soon) ( I was wearing a Joy Division t-shirt yesterday, and everyone I met was like “Joy Divison?? wots that? like one of your scary techno-rock bands?”…twats)

White Stripes…I liked 7 Nation Army. Some of their videos are fun to watch. That’s about it.

Don’t know much about radio n England, except that Peel’s dead, but radio over here is bollocks. It is either pop/hip-hop or “adult contemporary” where they play faggot shit like “I’ve never been to me” over and over… I joined my college radio station over here, so maybe I can educate these fine folks into some better taste, but we only broadcast like 6 weeks a year…fucking shite…

8

[reply]you mean like the faint, arcade fire, the mooney suzuki, the strokes, death cab

How do you categorize these bands? Can’t quite put my finger on it. It’s not quite indie rock (which fucken kicked butt in the eighties thanks to the likes of Sonic Youth, Butthole Surfers and Dinosaur Jr etc), it’s too…er…‘arty’ for pop and too pop for art-rock. College rock? They’re all big with college audiences who think they’re too cool for REM and U2, but have never heard of…say…Lightning Bolt or Animal Collective or whatever.

But y’know, to be honest I don’t think I’ve heard much of the material of those bands you’ve mentioned. Like Deathcab For Cutie. Who the hell are these guys all of a sudden? Weak as piss they are. So tepid. So predictable. They will have a ‘nice’ little career and be a mere footnote in the annals of alternative rock history.

I was on a tour through Russia and Scandanavia earlier this year and there were all these American nineteen year old college twits who were raving about Death Cab For Cutie and how I couldn’t possibly not like them if I was into alternative music. Then one of them had the nerve to try and convince me that The Pixies were ‘artrock’ and I was forced to hit him with my shoe.[/reply]

Id classify them as pretentious college rock. There are so many fucking bands like Franz Ferdinand out there it leaves me with the firm belief that music has never been in such a a bad shape before. All these new bands with ‘The’ in front of their name, its a bad sign. The Strokes, The Hives, The White Stripes, The Killers… all woeful faecal matter. The only exception in my opinion would be ‘The Music’, they are great live. All their songs are fairly similar but good. What I really cant stand are all these skinny fuckers who wear pink shirts and these big scarves. Prats.

9

However, satellite radio…this has extremely good potential. If I commuted everyday in the car, I would purchase this. No censorship, no bribing, etc. The way radio is supposed to be! Anyone have it? Any good?

Actually, I just signed up with Sirius a couple of weeks ago, and am loving every minute of it. My CDs are already getting dusty, and I haven’t listened to Howard Stern in two weeks (of course, he’ll be on Sirius in January). I think satellite radio is worth every penny (and it really isn’t that expensive). I went with Sirius over XM for my personal preferences, but if you’re thinking about making the switch, check out both Sirius and XM, and decide which caters more to your tastes. Once you’ve heard 100% commercial-free music for a few days, you’ll never look back. The sound quality is between FM and CD quality (imagine radio with no hiss or static). I think it sounds great in the car, and even better on headphones.

Oh, and once you get satellite radio, it’s inevitable that someone will ask, “Why would you PAY to listen to the radio?!” Well, why do people pay for cable TV? Because the free channels SUCK, that’s why.

I spent under $200 to get a receiver, home kit, car kit, and 6 months of pre-paid service (monthly is $12.95 for both companies). BTW, Afra - BBC Radio1 is on Sirius. The only thing missing is a good Industrial channel (or show).

1002

10

I spent under $200 to get a receiver, home kit, car kit, and 6 months of pre-paid service (monthly is $12.95 for both companies). BTW, Afra - BBC Radio1 is on Sirius. The only thing missing is a good Industrial channel (or show).

1002
[/reply]

I’m going to buy the works for my wife + the 500 deal for xmas. tenohtwo…which total kit did you purcahse and do you suggest the one you bought or some other brand?

11

I blame Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes/Saddle creek records fame. how did this whiney fuck get big and why did he get to fuck wynonna ryder when he was like 20. prick.

The Faint i like a lot. their first album in 98 was straight indie rock emo and then they started adding a lot of catchy electronics. i love their cover of sonic youth “mote”. i don’t think any of these new bands like the killers or bravery come close to doing the electronic/indie rock thing as good these guys. (i’m not saying nobody does the crossover better, i’m just saying they do it very poppy and still sound good).

Franz Ferdinand is a perfect Gap or Itunes TV commercial band. As are the Strokes. If nothing else they write very very catchy pop tunes for the masses. If you drive a VW and have an ipod, you probably dig these guys. i don’t remember ever hearing anything from The Mooney Suzuki after their 1 big hit a couple years ago so hopefully they died down. Everyone and their brother is all up on The Arcade Fire’s dicks lately. They pretty much bore me but the music in their “Neighborhood 3” song remind me of old new order or something so i dont hate it.

Death Cab… Now i don’t know a whole lot about this band except that they have been releasing cds and amassing a good following since the late 90s. so at least they didn’t pop up out of nowhere. i’ve only heard a few tracks but they seem to keep it more “pussy indie rock” and i can’t imagine them gaining radio success like the white stripes or the strokes. I’m neutral on death cab. But somebody fucking likes them cause they were one of the headliners at this year’s lollapalooza, and just sold out a show in ann arbor faster than sigur ros did. and god knows college art students love sigur ros (as do i somewhat).

I also don’t think these bands are interchangable. and i assume a lot of fans of some of the bands may hate the others all together. it’s like comparing ministry to nin to linkin park. sure they have some stuff in common, but not the same music by a long shot.

personally, while not caring for any of these bands all that much if at all, if i’m riding in a car and for some reason every cd i own catches disc rot from driving through ohio, id rather listen to these bands than limp biz or staind which was all that was on the radio 5 years ago. but its still crap.

12

I’m going to buy the works for my wife + the 500 deal for xmas. tenohtwo…which total kit did you purcahse and do you suggest the one you bought or some other brand?

I bought the XACT XTR7 - it was a complete package deal on www.nycelectronics.com for $109.99 (with a $30 mail-in rebate). Sam’s Club has the same complete package for $79 (basically the rebate included). I like the receiver I bought, and have had no problems with it, but am already looking at different models. Kenwood makes a nice looking one called the H2E which goes for about $150. The new Starmate Replay is nice - it’s $130, allows you to pause and rewind for up to 44 minutes, and is smaller than a one dollar bill. A lot of people seem to like the Sportster and Sportster Replay, too, because there are no cords sticking out of the unit (the dock is powered). If you want to read some other user opinions of various Sirius units, there’s a very good online community with an expansive forum:

www.siriusbackstage.com

This site also has a nice close-up pic of the Starmate Replay, which seems to be the new favorite receiver these days.

I like the receiver I bought, but was on a budget when I purchased it, and didn’t want to go all-out with my inital purchase. For me, the Kenwood or Starmate Replay would probably be a slight upgrade from what I have. I’ve read negative reviews on the JVC units, so you might want to avoid them. All the other models appear to be equally reliable.

Here’s a quick link to that Starmate Replay. The first post is a review, the second is a good pic:

http://www.siriusbackstage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27662

Hope this helps!

1002

13

personally, while not caring for any of these bands all that much if at all, if i’m riding in a car and for some reason every cd i own catches disc rot from driving through ohio, id rather listen to these bands than limp biz or staind which was all that was on the radio 5 years ago. but its still crap.

Truer words were never spoken. Why I personally despise Death Cab for Cutie and Bright Eyes simply for the terrible whiney voices (note: you people know you listen to ‘With Sympathy’, sissies.) and just simple lack of fun in pop music. Franz Ferdinand on the other hand, is straight pop music, the same way I view KMFDM. Filled with catchy hooks and the such and uptempo beat. I don’t believe they play themselves to be anything else other than this such as The Killers or Death Cab. Maybe I’ve just learned to bite my tongue for so long to avoid screaming at attractive women about the shallowness of their music and lack of artistic credibility since they don’t listen to 12 minutes of droning atonal noise.

14

Why I personally despise Death Cab for Cutie and Bright Eyes simply for the terrible whiney voices

I concur. When it comes down to the music, I’m not impressed with the vocals and even the music. Same with The Killers, who really aren’t original whatsoever. I like hearing that one famous song of theirs (something about a boyfriend or girlfriend) at this one club. That’s only because the song was completely redone and his vocals don’t drown in the song. If they removed the vocals entirely, I would like it better.

And as with most music with simply catchy hooks, it gets boring. Quick. And redundant.

“music for artists”. yeah, right!

Maybe I’ve just learned to bite my tongue for so long to avoid screaming at attractive women about the shallowness of their music and lack of artistic credibility since they don’t listen to 12 minutes of droning atonal noise.

haha! You’d be surprised though…

15

[reply]
I’m going to buy the works for my wife + the 500 deal for xmas. tenohtwo…which total kit did you purcahse and do you suggest the one you bought or some other brand?

I bought the XACT XTR7 - it was a complete package deal on [url “http://www.nycelectronics.com/”]http://www.nycelectronics.com for $109.99 (with a $30 mail-in rebate). Sam’s Club has the same complete package for $79 (basically the rebate included). I like the receiver I bought, and have had no problems with it, but am already looking at different models. Kenwood makes a nice looking one called the H2E which goes for about $150. The new Starmate Replay is nice - it’s $130, allows you to pause and rewind for up to 44 minutes, and is smaller than a one dollar bill. A lot of people seem to like the Sportster and Sportster Replay, too, because there are no cords sticking out of the unit (the dock is powered). If you want to read some other user opinions of various Sirius units, there’s a very good online community with an expansive forum:

[url “http://www.siriusbackstage.com/”]http://www.siriusbackstage.com

This site also has a nice close-up pic of the Starmate Replay, which seems to be the new favorite receiver these days.

I like the receiver I bought, but was on a budget when I purchased it, and didn’t want to go all-out with my inital purchase. For me, the Kenwood or Starmate Replay would probably be a slight upgrade from what I have. I’ve read negative reviews on the JVC units, so you might want to avoid them. All the other models appear to be equally reliable.

Here’s a quick link to that Starmate Replay. The first post is a review, the second is a good pic:

[url “http://www.siriusbackstage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27662”]http://www.siriusbackstage.com/...iewtopic.php?t=27662

Hope this helps!

1002
[/reply]

helps…totally hooked, thanks bro. Once reviewed, I’ll let you know which one I’m going to purchase. I’ll go to BJ’s not samms…gonna look there too.

16

12 minutes of droning atonal noise.

lol!

17

God forbid people enjoy pop music. Or songs that tell personal stories instead of complaining about the Bush administration.

18

God forbid people enjoy pop music. Or songs that tell personal stories instead of complaining about the Bush administration.

Or release a carbon copy of an album they made twelve years prior under a different name…

19

Or release a carbon copy of an album they made twelve years prior under a different name…

Hmm…carbon copy…riiight. Now, which songs are supposed to be carbon copies of Corrosion and Grace, again?

1002

20

Haven’t you heard? Its cool not to listen to what you criticize but instead to listen to the publicity.