Franz Ferdinand

Named for the Austro-Hungarian Archduke, whose assassination sparked World War I, Glasgow's Franz Ferdinand helped to characterise the sound of the 2000s and 2010s with their blend of creative rock, house music, dub and more.

By summer 2002, Franz Ferdinand recorded an EP's worth of material that they intended to release themselves, but word of mouth about the band spread and Franz Ferdinand signed with Domino in the summer of 2003. The group's EP Darts of Pleasure released that fall, and the band spent the rest of the year supporting groups such as Hot Hot Heat and Interpol. The band spent much of 2005 working on their more eclectic second album; You Could Have It So Much Better, with producer Rich Costey. The band's fourth album, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, featured multiple guest collaborations. It arrived in August 2013 and delivered a bold, streamlined sound reminiscent of the band's earliest work. In 2017, they debuted the title track from their fifth album Always Ascending. Recorded with producer Philippe Zdar, it arrived in February 2018 and combined the band's raw aesthetic with electronic experiments.