Formed in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2001, Franz Ferdinand comprises Alex Kapranos (lead vocals and guitar), Bob Hardy (bass guitar), Nick McCarthy (rhythm guitar, keyboards and backing vocals), and Paul Thomson (drums, percussion and backing vocals).

The band's moniker was originally inspired by a racehorse called The Archduke - after seeing the horse run on television the band began to discuss Archduke Franz Ferdinand and thought it would be a good band name because of the sound of the name and the implications of the Archduke's death (his assassination was a significant factor in the lead up to World War I).

The band enlisted the help of Cardigans producer Tore Johansson for their debut album, "Franz Ferdinand", recorded at Gula Studios in Malmö, Sweden. In January 2004, second single "Take Me Out" reached number 3 in the UK, representing their first chart success, and the album "Franz Ferdinand" also debuted at number 3 on the UK Album chart. The band went on to win the 2004 Mercury Music Prize and 2 BRIT Awards in 2005 ("Best British Group" and "Best British Rock Act").
The single release of "Take Me Out" came with the B-side, "All for You Sophia", based on the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, whose name was Sophie, not Sophia, however, the band changed the name Sophie to Sophia to give the song a better ring to it.

After spending much of 2005 in the studio in Scotland working on their sophomore album (which was originally going to be self titled like their debut), "You Could Have It So Much Better" was released in October 2005. The album, who's cover design was modelled on Alexander Rodchenko's 1924 portrait of Lilya Brik, contains the single "Do You Want To", which made it to number 4 in the UK.