Franz Ferdinand, “The Human Fear.” It’s the old “quality over quantity” trope. It seems that artists whose songs are dense and literate, packed with meaning and craft, don’t do mass production. Two classic examples: Randy Newman and David Gilmour. The Human Fear Franz Ferdinand Domino Recording Company, Jan. 10…

Franz Ferdinand, courtesy. Much is going on in the life of Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos as of late. The Scottish quartet is back with its first album of new songs in six years, The Human Fear. But Kapranos, 52, is also newly married to French musician Clara Luciani…

Franz Ferdinand performs at the Fox Theater in Oakland on Aug. 30, 2022. Nate McKinley/STAFF. OAKLAND — By the time Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand dove into “Take Me Out,” more than an hour into their 90-minute set at the Fox Theater, it might as well have been 2004…

Franz Ferdinand, courtesy David Edwards. Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand is looking angelic with a sheet of backlighting through a skylight in his band’s Glasgow studio. Though the video connection is a little fuzzy, he can spot the “Do You Want To” single cover tucked away at the back…

Franz Ferdinand performs at The Fox Theater in Oakland on May 17, 2018. Alessio Neri/STAFF. OAKLAND — Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos casually strolled onto the Fox Theater stage, following his four bandmates, stepped onto a speaker and looked out onto the gathered fans of his band, many of…

From its 2004 debut to 2013’s Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, no band other than The Strokes and Interpol epitomized the post-punk revival than Franz Ferdinand. As the genre experienced a steep decline in popularity, so did Franz Ferdinand. So for Alex Kapranos and company, it meant it was time…

Photos: Alessio Neri MOUNTAIN VIEW — Thomas Mars and Phoenix brought their traveling Italian disco show to radio station Live 105’s BFD festival at the Shoreline Amphitheatre Saturday. The Parisians, the final of 25 acts to perform at the annual radio station start of summer show, played three songs off…

Bob Dylan’s The Band has been an influence on Midlake’s Eric Pulido for years, because that band allowed each musician to have an individual voice. Each took turns leading songs in a round-robin manner, with the others supporting. All the musicians were friends outside of The Band, and had…

FFS (Franz Ferdinand and Sparks). I really like Franz Ferdinand. I’ve caught pretty much all of their shows in the Bay Area since 2003, and have caught a couple of shows in Oregon before, as well. But this isn’t about Franz Ferdinand; this is about FFS. Over the past couple of weeks,…