coming round to franz ferdinand

Best songwriting advice from an ex: never use the word say in a lyric. Much like in 'real' writing, it's telling not showing in the worst way. FF did just that in the banal but catchy uk-dance-punk-telephone-vocal-will-never-die pre-summer jam 'take me out,' with a chorus so vacant that it seems impossible to remember when You and I are saying what. The queenie dancefloor singalong is rendered useless:

I say don't you know
You say you don't know
I say... take me out

I stay, you don't show
Don't move, time is slow
I say... take me out

Toemaytoes and toemAAtoes, you say say say? Ya, well it doesn't get much better on Darts of Pleasure, though whatever he says about salmon at the end is a nice little turn to an otherwise tarted up deathdisco uk garage type thing. My Jarvis award for post-teen teasing, slightly sleazy boho fetish goes more to "The Dark of the Matinee," which manages to escape the confines of the DFA-cliche to have that uneasy feeling of being made by actual humans with difficult, maybe pathetic lives living out singular experiences in middlebrow England – fabulous while it lasts. Hmm...and like good pop, I guess, FF is just that, half empty calories, half half decent songy filler. If only Pulp would give us that much, right?

IN OTHER NEWS: I think I managed to get a comments section going, so flame away.