According to NME in 2005, the band had no intentions to stop and continued to record at a relentless pace. In January of 2006, they began new recording sessions, coinciding with some dates in Australia and New Zealand: "Then we’ll see how many songs we’ve got together but we’re talking about going into the studio at the end of January." Kapranos explained. "We’re popping over to Australia and New Zealand at the end of January as well, as you do. It’s brilliant, I’m looking forward to that. We get to miss the Scottish winter, which is not a bad thing at all." Their third album will likely be released in late 2007 or even 2008, however the band revealed in early September 2006 that they were going to take an indefinite break after headlining the Carling Weekend and playing two shows in Brazil. Alex and Nick managed to find time to appear at the Edinburgh Book Festival in August 2006 (video interview can be seen here), and took part in a songwriting session for the festival.

The name of the band 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 sparked World War I). They discussed it in a very early interview with Scottish magazine, Is This Music? [8]

"Mainly we just liked the way it sounded," says Bob. "We liked the alliteration." "He was an incredible figure as well," continues Alex. "His life, or at least the ending of it, was the catalyst for the complete transformation of the world ... he was a pivot for history. But I don't want to over-intellectualise the name thing. Basically a name should just sound good ... like music." Paul has a much grander notion. "I like the idea that, if we become popular, maybe the words Franz Ferdinand will make people think of the band instead of the historical figure."[citation needed]

The song Take Me Out, on the band's first album, was the second single to be released by the band. The single release of Take Me Out came with the B side, 'All For You Sophia', based on the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, whose name was Sophie, not Sophia. (The band changed the name Sophie to Sophia to give the song a better ring to it.) There are many historical references to that day, including "June the twenty-eighth" and "the Black Hand."