"Take Me Out" charted in several other countries and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal; it became the band's signature song.

Alex Kapranos and Paul Thomson met at a party and began a close friendship and played together in Yummy Fur, and subsequently teamed up to write songs.

[6] The band moved to Gula Studios in Malmö, Sweden, with Cardigans producer Tore Johansson to record their debut album.

"Take Me Out" gained first place in the Australian Triple J Hottest 100 for 2004, winning more than twice the votes of the second-place entry, with This Fire and The Dark of the Matinee entering at No.

The band initially intended to leave the album self-titled like their debut,[9] but they changed it to You Could Have It So Much Better...With Franz Ferdinand before settling on the final title.

Also included is another video-clip-only single called "Wine, In the Afternoon" which is the B-side to "Eleanor Put Your Boots On", and was also not featured on the album, but recorded on tour in Michigan.

You Could Have It So Much Better went on to earn a nomination for Best Alternative Album at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards in 2006, as did "Do You Want To" for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

On 1 June 2009, the band released Blood, a compilation album that includes dub music versions of songs from Tonight: Franz Ferdinand.

In early March they performed "Evil Eye" and "Love Illumination", while the end of the month saw the live premiere of "Goodbye Lovers & Friends".

On 16 May 2013, Franz Ferdinand officially announced their fourth album, titled Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, along with cover art, track listing and a release date of 26 August 2013.

FMV Magazine's Dan Jenko praised the gig, saying that "there's no reason why latest LP Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action can't be the belated soundtrack of the summer".

[25] On 9 March 2015, it was announced that the band had formed a supergroup with Sparks under the name FFS, with plans to release a studio album and tour Europe during that summer.

[31] In July 2016, the band announced that guitarist Nick McCarthy would not be involved in the recording and touring of their next album, in order to concentrate on his family and other musical interests.

[32][33] On 14 October 2016, the band released "Demagogue", a song protesting and satirising the candidacy of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election of 2016.

[41][42][43] Tait's debut performance with the band had taken place several weeks before the announcement, at the Balmain fashion show in Paris on 29 September.

[47] They have also covered "Sexy Boy" by Air, "It Won't Be Long" by the Beatles, Pulp's "Mis-Shapes", Gwen Stefani's top 5 hit "What You Waiting For?

", Blondie's "Call Me", Britney Spears' "Womanizer" and David Bowie's song "Sound and Vision", featuring Girls Aloud[48] on backing vocals, for a compilation disc marking the 40th anniversary of BBC Radio 1, along with other leading artists.

The cover by De Kift is named "Liefde En Puin" which is the title "Love and Destroy" translated into Dutch.

The band has had remixes by electronic artists Daft Punk, Hot Chip, Justice, The Avalanches, Microfilm and Erol Alkan.

In addition, Franz re-recorded the track "Brown Onions" for David Shrigley's compilation album Worried Noodles.

[49] The band kept instrumentation identical but used lyrics written by Shrigley which include the consistent repetition of the word "No" and occasionally "No brains, no teeth, no legs, no eyes...".

The band partnered with Sony in Tokyo, filming commercials for the launch of the A Series Walkman music player on 8 September 2005.

[50][51] A limited edition Franz Ferdinand-themed Walkman A Series player was released by Sony Japan in January 2006, with only one hundred made.

[53] At the 2009 NME Awards ceremony, they performed a cover of Blondie's "Call Me" with Elly Jackson of La Roux on guest vocals.

When the band appeared on Radio 1's Live Lounge on 6 April 2009, to promote "No You Girls", they covered "Womanizer" by Britney Spears.

Lost in France premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival to wholly positive reviews and was called "funny, vital and sobering"[55] by Scotland's arts bible The Skinny.

In 2022, Franz Ferdinand's single, "This Fire" served as the opening theme song for the Polish-Japanese animated series, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.

Also, in "Outsiders", the lyrics "In seventeen years will you still be Camille, Lee Miller, Gala or whatever" are a reference to the lovers of the artists Auguste Rodin, Man Ray and Salvador Dalí.

The avant-garde music video for "Take Me Out", directed by Jonas Odell, was inspired by Dadaism (especially Max Ernst's Une Semaine de Bonté), Busby Berkeley choreographies and Russian constructivist design.

[69] The lyrics of "Do You Want To" make reference to parties at the "trendy" Glasgow art gallery Transmission, and the video includes a variety of the work of contemporary artist Vanessa Beecroft.