While many bands of the early 21st-century indie boom were at pains to emphasise “no nonsense” authenticity, Franz Ferdinand were unafraid to admit they’d heard of a painter or read a book. The Glaswegians return with their first album for seven years, and on The Human Fear (Domino) their studied, savvy art-pop cruises as confidently as ever. Their 2015 collaboration with Sparks as FFS felt almost like a passing of a torch (were it not for the Mael brothers’ continuing vibrancy), and they show here similar precision and waggishness to their heroes. On pointed dispatches like Audacious and Hooked they resemble Field Music on a bigger production budget, and from some angles might be perceived as a younger generation’s XTC.
Sparks themselves release Annette: The Original 2013 Recordings (Li’l Beethoven), which…
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Prog Italia (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 156