Franz Ferdinand Cover Amyl And The Sniffers’ “You Should Not Be Doing That”

Photo Credit: Boston Lynn Schulz

Franz Ferdinand have put their own sharp-edged spin on Amyl And The Sniffers’ “You Should Not Be Doing That,” delivering gritty cover during a recent appearance on triple j’s ‘Like A Version.’ The long-running indie band leaned into the raw attitude of the original while reshaping it through their own aesthetic. Rather than recreating Amyl And The Sniffers’ sax-heavy track, Franz Ferdinand stripped things back for a sleazier feel. The result is less like a straight cover and more like a tense, late-night club mutation of the song.

According to NME, Alex Kapranos explained that the band wasn’t interested in imitation, especially when it came to Amy Taylor’s unmistakable vocal presence. “I knew that I was never gonna be able to sing like Amy [Taylor] – we’re different personalities, we have different voices, different accents, different ways of doing it. For me, it was more about tuning into the energy.” He noted that singing the track was less about matching her delivery and more about tapping into the underlying energy that makes the song hit so hard. That approach comes through in the performance, reshaping the song’s attitude without dulling its bite.

Franz Ferdinand’s ‘Like A Version’ performance highlights the uniqueness of the two bands as they occupy different corners of the punk and indie spectrum. By focusing on feel, the band managed to honor the spirit of “You Should Not Be Doing That” while making it unmistakably their own.