Classic rockers Sparks have come together with Franz Ferdinand to form the group FFS for an album and a series of dates this summer.
The members of Franz Ferdinand have been fans of Sparks, whose British hits include This Town Ain't Big Enough For the Both of Us (1974 / #2) and Amateur Hour (1974 / #7), for many years and have now joined forces with brothers Ron and Russell Mael for the group who will tour Europe in June and July along with Berlin's Lollapalooza in September.
FFS will also enter the studio with indie producer John Congleton to cut a new album. The band released a 30-second teaser for a new song called The Domino Effect on Monday.
Sparks (originally Halfnelson) was formed in Los Angeles in 1971 by the Mael brothers and have released 22 studio albums. Their peak popularity was in Britain during the mid-70's with their albums Kimono My House (1974 / #4 U.K. / #101 U.S.), Propaganda (1974 / #9 U.K. / #63 U.S.) and Indiscreet (1975 / #18 U.K. / #169 U.S.).
Franz Ferdinand started in Scotland in 2002 and have, to date, have released four studio albums. Their hits include Take Me Out (2004 / #66 / #3 Alternative) and Do You Want To (2005 / #76 / #9 Alternative).
Tour dates:
06/16 - Glasgow, U.K. - Arts School 06/22 - Zagreb, Croatia - Inmusic Festival 06/24 - Brussels, Belgium - AB 06/26 - Paris, France - Bataclan 06/29 - London, U.K. - Troxy 07/01 - Cologne, Germany - Gloria 07/02 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg 07/05 - Lyon, France - Transbordeur 07/10 - Trencin, Slovakia - Pohoda Festival 07/19 - Benicassim, Spain - Benicassim Festival 09/12 - Berlin, Germany - Lollapalooza