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FRflnz • conunuED proiti i In 2004, the group hit it big in both the U.K. and the U.S. with the hit “Take Me Out.” In Kapranos! typical fashion, the song’s lyrics can be read two ways, with the narrator is asking for a date or to be murdered. Kapranos likes his lyrics to be as provocative as possible. He littered the new album with drug references. “They’re not the most drastic of drugs,” Kapranos said. “Codeine, Valium and, oh yeah, echinacea, a real killer that n one. The band likes to play around with sexual references, too. Their debut album featured a boldly homo-erotic song, “Michael.” “Michael, you’re the only one I ever want,” it goes. “Beautiful boys on a beautiful dance floor/Michael you’re dancing like a beautiful dance-whore. ... I am a man, so come and dance with me, Michael.” On the new album, “Do You Want To?”' has much more explicit homoerotic lyrics. “The speaker is not always the author,” Kapranos explains. “(In 'Michael’) I was writing about an erotic situation between two male friends. It didn’t strike me as that odd. It seemed like a good subject for a song.” “Michael” has generated more than the usual amount of chatter on the Web. According to Kapranos, one fan wrote that he hated the song so much, he omitted it when he electronically burned a new copy of the CD for himself. To Kapranos’ relief, that didn’t go over well with other Franz Ferdinand followers. “It was so cool to see the thousands of replies which shouted the guy down,” he said. Kapranos says he chooses his hot-button subjects simply “based on situations that are around me.” But, in the end, he admits that he likes most to “prod and poke people so they can reconsider their opinions.” Maybe even that one about Franz Ferdinand being “an ’80s band.” X Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockfeatures@gum. sc. edu TEflm • connnuED PRom i ambulance in the background, it seems to celebrate the busy nature of a city as if it were a _ living creature itself. Hence the name, “Panther Dash!” . “Ladyflash,” second because it rhymes with the first song, sounds like a confused mix of ’50s rock music and modern hip-hop, electronica and some school kids singing in the background. One might be left with the unique impression that the band is tossing Tinker Toys against a metal plate, yet somehow maintaining an even rhythm. The third track begins with a happy-go-lucky note — a piano/drum duet that sounds a little like elevator music. “Feel Good By Numbers” is a good name for it. “Power Is On” is a collaboration of a jiving dance beat with rap lyrics and a horn. Unfortunately, the lyrics aren’t easy to understand and there is no extensive inset for this album. They do mention the U.S.A., which might qualify as a protest of the war in Iraq or a rally for American fans. But as a dance group, with mostly positive themes, the latter is most likely true. “Get It Together” expands on that rallying cry to a certain extent. “We Just Won’t Be Defeated,” is interesting because of the punkish vocals and simple dance theme. It is also the first song which the title easily corresponds with the lyrics. An air-raid siren chimes in after the song finishes. In “Junior Kickstart,” the band uses stereophonic sound to make certain parts of the song stand out from the rest. The next two tracks expand 'on cheerful themes and give the music an ethnic flair. But track 11 sounds like a 6-year old taking a singing lesson insuring that this song makes an impression. The last song is potentially the best on the album. “Everyone’s A V.I.P. To Someone” is a five-minute anthem to the joy of friendship. It sounds like a soundtrack to life. Despite the lack of vocals, the instrumentation allows anyone’s mind to expand on the message the band might want to convey through this song. They cleverly introduce happy and melancholy themes with a variety of playing styles, even adding a violin to make the music flow smoothly. To sum it up in one sentence, one might consider this a concept album for the future of indie dance/big band music. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc. edu Special to THE GAMECOCK The Go! Team creates concept album for future indie bands with dance tracks and disco beats. 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