FFS

The aptly and wittily named collaboration between Franz Ferdinand and Sparks, FFS released its first album in 2015, but the project was over a decade in the making. The bands expressed their mutual admiration for each other starting in 2004, shortly after Franz Ferdinand released their self-titled debut; Sparks’ Ron Mael gave the Scottish band a song, “Piss Off,” that they could work on together. However, the groups’ busy schedules prevented them from making the collaboration a reality until 2013. Both bands were playing in California, and Ron and Russell Mael happened to run into Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos when he was en route to the dentist to have a broken tooth repaired. The chance meeting reignited the connection, and the acts shared songs with each other for a year and a half before recording them together over the course of two weeks. The singles “Johnny Delusional,” “Piss Off,” “Collaborations Don’t Work,” and “Call Girl” preceded FFS’ self-titled debut, which was released in 2015. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi