Sequels are tricky. If a band strays from its original sound, critics sneer, "They've lost their roots." And if a band sticks with its winning formula, critics rant, "An unevolved retread."
So when word got out that Franz Ferdinand was releasing the inevitable sequel to their self-titled debut, the table was set for failure -- rare is the sequel that walks the fine line between familiarity and freshness.
In spite of daunting expectations, the rowdy You Could Have It So Much Better delivers satisfying, scintillating sounds. From alternately introspective and eclectic lyrics to potent instrumental work in all the right places, Franz Ferdinand's second studio album is an instant classic for its refined reverence. Compulsively re-playable, So Much Better respects and re-presents Franz Ferdinand's signature sound while tweaking its intrinsic danceability, producing a disc that improves with each spin.
From the get-go, So Much Better unabashedly addresses Franz Ferdinand's insecurities. On the opening track, "The Fallen," lead singer Alex Kapranos invites listeners to join the indie-pop renaissance ("Walk among us," he echoes) before lamenting the band's initial reception: "If you judge us/We are damned."
Likewise, the album's first single, the throbbing, chorus-laden "Do You Want To" is an abstracted indictment of the music industry dynamic. "I'm gonna make somebody love me," sings Kapranos. "You're so lucky!"
This front-loaded duo, as well as the closing song, the frolicking "Outsiders" ("We've seen some change/But we're still outsiders/...We ride alone") voice the group's cynical view of the music industry and frame the record's thematically disparate middle tracks.
Halfway through the album, "Eleanor Put Your Boots On" offers respite from So Much Better's persistent, grooving bass lines and driving drum set, instead aggregating layered vocals, acoustic guitar and liberal piano work. A quirky love song of sorts, "Eleanor" is inaccessible at first but opens up with repeated listens, as does the album's penultimate song, the instrumentally similar and less esoteric "Fade Together."
In a sense, these two tracks harken back to tempo of 2004's critical darling -- where their first album was cappuccino, Franz Ferdinand's second effort is a double shot of espresso. Both releases come from the same source, but the second is a more potent, concentrated form. And though last year's disc has retained relevance since its release, this latest record retroactively changes the sound of hits like "Take Me Out" and "This Fire" -- next to So Much Better, Franz Ferdinand sounds like a warm-up record.
But if there's one spot where Franz Ferdinand tops So Much Better, it's in the lyrics: The sophomore effort's numerous out-of-nowhere utterances are mildly distracting. "Stalin smiles and Hitler laughs/Churchill claps Mao Zedong on the back," sings Kapranos on the plain "Walk Away," a song that would stand out on another band's album but is filler here. Other tracks like the frenetic "Evil and a Heathen" and the raucous "You Could Have It So Much Better" feature iterative lyrical strains amidst ambiguous narrative fragments.
Though slightly off-putting and opaque at first, So Much Better ages as well as Franz Ferdinand -- replaying the album unearths each song's previously unnoticed nuances. And where The Killers' Hot Fuss and Coldplay's last two studio albums rely on significant studio wizardry, the sparsely embellished So Much Better gives Franz Ferdinand the organic feel of a truly tight band.
Fresh, yet familiar, You Could Have It So Much Better is the rarest of rare: a worthy sequel.
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