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Franz Ferdinand and Sparks have released their first music as supergroup FFS, entitled 'Piss Off'. Check it out below.
The song combines both groups' strengths, with Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos' melodramatic vocal style complimenting the Mael brothers' playful songwriting. Upbeat and tongue-in-cheek, with cynical lyrics about beer and football and nonsensical self-conscious jokes, the release bodes well for fans of the Scottish rockers and their American counterparts as well as anyone who enjoys innovative or atypical rock music.
FFS will release their self-titled collaboration on Monday 8 June on Domino. The project has its origins around the time of Franz Ferdinand's debut album, when the two bands discovered by hearsay that they were mutual fans of each other.
Sparks keyboardist Russell Mael recalled, “We thought ‘Take Me Out’ was very cool, and wouldn’t it be nice to say hello when they came to Los Angeles? We met and decided then it would be great to do something together. We put forward a couple demos, one was ‘Piss Off’. But they got swept up by everything, and it didn’t happen at that time.”
Ten years later, Kapranos ran into the Mael brothers at Coachella and the album went ahead, recorded over 15 days in late 2014.
Listen to FFS' first release 'Piss Off' below:
FFS also play a number of UK dates on their European tour this summer, including an appearance at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival. See below for dates and tickets:
16th June - Glasgow Arts School
19th June - Montendre Free Music Festival
20th June - Ruoms Aluna Festival
22nd June - Zagreb, Jarun Inmusic Festival
24th June - Brussels Ancienne Belgique
26th June - Paris Bataclan
29th June - London The Troxy
1st July - Cologne Gloria
2nd July - Amsterdam Melkweg
5th July - Lyon Transbordeur
7th July - Genova Goa Boa Festival
8th July - Zurich Summer Odyssee
10th July - Trencin Pohoda Festival
11th July - Barcelona Cruilla Festival
16th July - Catania Zanne Festival
18th July - Lisbon Super Bock Super Rock
19th July - Spain Benicassim Festival
20th August - Lausanne For Noise Festival
21st August - Hasselt Pukkelpop Festival
24th August - Edinburgh Festival Theatre
25th August - Manchester Albert Hall
12th September - Berlin Lollapalooza
