Musical algebra

Artist : Franz Ferdinand
Album : You Could Have It So Much Better
Label : Domino
Rating : *** out of *****
Standout tracks : I'm Your Villain, Walk Away, Eleanor Put Your Boots On

Even while we are still decoding the great post-punk records that made their way into Franz Ferdinand's 2004 eponymous debut, we can figure out what the next album would sound like.

No one expects a big bang from the new princelings of retro- rock.

The funky and punky music from this Scottish band is so formulaic that it sounds as if bandleader Alex Kopranos writes his tunes while studying Gang Of Four's holy trinity of angular guitars, danceable beats and earnest vocal delivery.

And after moving millions of units from overworking the three basic tenets, these four sharp-dressed Glaswegians have no intention on abandoning their algebraic theorem for You Could Have It So Much Better.

And rather than exploring new possibilities, Franz Ferdinand only scratches the surface by delving only into inconsequential aspects of their music. Such trivialities are manifest in the bands method of speeding up or slowing down song tempos as well as finding a perfect piano line or mono effect to open their tunes in this second outing.

Lesser acts would probably degenerate such practice into self indulgence, but an arty smart band -- band members met while they were attending art school -- Franz Ferdinand did so without seeming too earnest.

Eleanor Put Your Boots On has a gorgeous piano line that opens and then sublimely seeps into the song's main composition. This song is allegedly a love letter for Eleanor Friedberger of indie- rock band the Fiery Furnaces, a long-time crush apparently of Kopranos'.

Evil and Heathen could be any song from Franz Ferdinand played twice the original speed.

Consistency is never a crime. -- M. Taufiqurrahman