An opening crash of guitars recalls memories of The Who at their finest, gives way to a propulsive, spiky punk-pop anthem which sends your body into a furious electric chicken dance and finally sets you imagining The Rapture giving a sensual soap rub to Albert from The Strokes. Then, just as you find yourself getting just that little bit tired of the familiarity of it all, Franz Ferdinand are one step ahead of you. The drums are attacked with a fit of weariness, slow down to nothing and burst back into life with renewed, strutting, glam-stomping, terrace-shagging vigour, leaping the Atlantic ocean with a single bound in the process. This will go down in rock history as the moment that the British rock revival finally snatched back the leader's flag from those pesky Americans.

"All For You, Sophia" is a sturdy B-side recalling enough of Gang Of Four to justify the comparisons which will no doubt soon start to grate like hell with them and final track "Words So Leisured" has a mysteriously sleazy aroma of Pulp to it. Now that the ports of Japan have opened to Franz Ferdinand there will be nothing to stop them laying waste to cities and bringing the nation to its knees. Can't wait? Me neither. -Ian Martin, Feb.08.04

Take Me Out