BRITAIN: Scottish art-rockers Franz Ferdinand last night scooped the prestigious Mercury music prize with their debut album.
The Glasgow-based four-piece band were firm favourites with the bookies to win the honour and walked away with a £20,000 cheque.
Their debut album has sold over a million copies worldwide since its release in February this year and has also been heavily praised by the music critics.
Dressed to impress Franz Ferdinand stormed the charts with a manifesto to make girls dance using guitar riffs last heard amid the death throes of punk.
Their biggest single, Take Me Out, has a famed opening riff which has sent dance floors wild across Britain all year.
The Scottish band are the standard-bearers for Britain's "artrock" movement, which is inspired by everything from Joy Division to Talking Heads.
They are part of a wider surge in guitar music which can rival dance tracks for DJs' nightclub playlists.