Boot-iful!
The Fab Four (Kapranos, McCarthy, Hardy and Thomson) can't put a foot wrong at the minute. Bridging the gap between the mainstream commercial sector and the artistic independent community Franz Ferdinand are on the brink of world (musical) domination and new single "Eleanor Put Your Boots On" looks like edging them further ahead of the pack. Re-recorded whilst on tour in the U.S. this new version of the live favourite replaces the twinkling piano motif that opened the original (album version) with a gently plucked banjo (!) while still managing to retains all the essential but beefed up elements that made the original such an affecting number.
The band certainly reign in their usual energetic tendencies here and deliver a *gasp* polished ballad that's less hooky than previous outings but more textured and no less satisfying. There's a back-handed musical acknowledgement of that other great pop song about girls called Eleanor by that other Fab Four and the track certainly displays a reverence for pop-rock classicism that is touching but hardly revolutionary. It may not be their finest hour in this respect but it's still light years ahead of the competition.