Franz Ferdinand (band)

Franz Ferdinand are a Scottish rock band, from Glasgow. Formed in 2001 and vicariously named after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the band consists of Alex Kapranos on lead vocals and guitar, Bob Hardy on bass guitar, Nick McCarthy on rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals, and Paul Thomson on drums, percussion, and backing vocals.

The band's debut self-titled album (released in 2004) debuted on the UK album charts at number three and won the 2004 Mercury Music Prize before their second album, You Could Have It So Much Better, charted at number 1. So far, the band has released eight singles, a double single and two video-clip-only singles, of which "Take Me Out", "The Dark of the Matinée", "This Fire" (on the download chart) and "Do You Want To" were top 10 hits in the UK.