Fans of Franz Ferdinand have probably been getting their pegged pants in a bunch over the general lack of, well, Franz Ferdinand updates in recent months. But fear not, ye of little patience (and much eyeliner), because the band is helping you satisfy your jones.
Since February, Franz have been holed up in the Scottish countryside, working feverishly on their second album with producer Rich Costey (Bloc Party, Pavement). But only now have they launched an official "Studio Diary" on their Web site, FranzFerdinand.co.uk.
Visitors to the site can view a couple of videos, one of which features footage of frontman Alex Kapranos riding his bike to the post office interspersed with clips of the band jamming out on an aggressive, hooky tune. The other clip shows guitarist Nick McCarthy wandering around a Scottish field, recording the sounds of a rushing stream and the wind, then taking his field recordings back to the studio to be mixed.
Also on the site, Kapranos details how the new album is shaping up. In addition to name-checking two already-debuted songs, "Your Diary" and "This Boy" (see "Franz Ferdinand Pen Songs Like Most People Write Postcards"), he also mentions a pair of brand new tracks, "Wee Andy" and "Evil Heathen," which the band debuted during the April 5 Teenage Cancer Trust benefit at London's Royal Albert Hall.
The band also drops a few hints as to what the new album could sound like, with Kapranos citing David Bowie's Station to Station and Low and Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited as major influences, and drummer Paul Thomson dropping names like Funkadelic (1970's Maggot Brain in particular) and '60s garage-rockers the Monks.
Fans in Europe and the U.K. will get first crack at hearing the new tunes, as Franz have scheduled a pair of dates with U2 in Spain in early August. They'll then headline the V Festival in Staffordshire, England, on August 20. There are no North American dates announced at this time, but the band promises that U.S. fans will be hearing the new album by the end of 2005.
