Hearing one of your favorite songs of the year in a car ad is supposed to inspire a rant about commercialism, sellout, etc. etc. I do think people should realize the implication of innocuousness inherent in ad placements, but hearing "Don't Save Us From Flames" push Pontiacs just tells me I need to stop watching Fuse. The debate is irrelevant if you don't watch crap.

One positive aspect of flipping around BET, MTV, MTV2, VH1, VH1Classic and Fuse (plus McGyver on Spike - "I'M SICK OF YOUR GAMES, MURDOC!") this morning was catching the video for "Do You Want To?" twice. I love a good Gondry now and then, but I'll trade all the hi-tech gimmickry in the world for a video that actually sells the band. Jack White's little rascals aside, Franz Ferdinand are the only people on the MTV2 T-Minus Rock countdown who look like they'd be fun to hang out with.

I caught FF at the Tower last Friday (thanks, Keith!) and they earned every shriek. They're playful and caddish without being juvenile; unself-conscious, post-adolescent good time charlies who hint at intelligence rather than promise more than they can offer. You Could Have It So Much Better is pretty skimpy on the anthems, and I hope the next album will reveal it to be transitional, but they're still refreshing.

If I'd thought to take one, a picture of Keith dancing at Silk City to "Freedom '90" would be at the top of this post.