This Scottish indie rock band (formed in Glasgow in 2001) is the big surprise of this year's Mallorca Rocks. Its name, which is also the title of their debut album in 2004, does honour to the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.
It is composed of Alex Kapranos (lead vocals, guitar and keyboards), Bob Hardy (bass), Nick McCarthy (rhythm guitar, keyboards and vocals) and Paul Thomson (drums, percussion, guitar and vocals).
With Franz Ferdinand they achieved the 2004 Mercury Music Prize and two Brit Awards in 2005 for Best British Group and Best British Rock Performance. Meanwhile, the New Musical Express named it Album of the Year.
Since then they have published almost twenty singles and two albums. In 2010 they announced that they were working on a new album of which the release date is still unknown, but is expected this year. A preview of the themes will be heard at the Mallorca Rocks, after the passing of the band through the Glastonbury Festival.
