’Collaborations don’t work’ sing Alex Kapranos and Russell Mael on, er, Collaborations Don’t Work, thereby creating a vortex of irony so powerful that all rock music was sucked into it and destroyed.
That said, they have of course proved themselves wrong as FFS – the name referring to the initials of the two bands involved, Franz Ferdinand and Sparks – is a brilliant record, combining as it does the herky-jerky, febrile near-hysterical wit of Sparks with that of Franz Ferdinand.
Never have pants been smartier as songs such as Dictator’s Son, Johnny Delusional and the excellent, self-explanatory Piss Off see two excellent acts goad each other on to new heights of offence, absurdity and wit. Musically, it sounds like a disco Monochrome Set or a really angry Talking Heads; lyrically it’s spot on throughout.
Perhaps others can follow in FFS’ path – I could only think of Laurence Olivier joining Led Zeppelin to form LOLZ – so maybe not. Nevertheless this is a funny and great album./o:p
