2004: A Franztastic year

In the ten years before Franz’s burst to prominence, music was officially and deliberately shit (to use the scientific terminology). Having watched the Gallagher brothers mysterious domination of the charts, popular media and bad house parties everywhere, record companies (in their eternal wisdom….so long suckers) insisted on foisting acts with bland names (Coldplay, Travis, Stereophonics) with even blander repertoires on a gullible, yet paying public. Suddenly, with Take Me Out, Franz Ferdinand and eh, The Scissor Sisters were seen as the vanguard in a rebirth of brainy ‘art rock’.

Just how cerebral this cultural epoch was is reflected in the acts which sold the most records that year. Yes, we had ironic cock (rock) revivalists The Darkness, charity ensemble Band Aid and American pop singer Eamon with the heartwrenching break-up anthem ‘Fuck it. You really fucked me over, fucked if I give a flying fuck. You can fuck right off’. Progress indeed.

Besides the banning of mobile phones in North Korea and the re-election of the latest in a steady stream of warmongers, 2004 was also the year that the phrase ‘wardrobe malfunction’ entered the collective lexicon. Had he been dead at the time, Michael Jackson would surely have been spinning in his grave at the thought of his ickle sis baring more than just her soul in front of the massive Superbowl TV audience. Spare a thought for her partner in crime though. Before the controversy erupted, Justin Timberlake would have taken to the stage confident that he might be the only tit up there that anyone would talk about. Bravo to Franz Ferdinand for surviving this pop culture apocalypse.