'Franz Ferdinand'

I started reading rock magazines in or around the sixth or seventh grade. At that time it was Rolling Stone.

The next six or so years, it was mostly guitar magazines, Hit Parader and Metal Mania.

In college, I "graduated" to SPIN and Alternative Press. Currently, I stick mainly to porn.

My point being that I've been looking at rock musicians for about 16 years and I think one of my all-time favorite rock musicians to look at of Franz Ferdinand drummer, Paul Thomson. This fascination was solidified a year and a half ago (about four years after I quit listening to Franz Ferdinand) when I saw them perform (on TV) on the PBS concert show, Austin City Limits.

Thomson and bassist Bob Hardy are the backbone of this group no doubt, but Thomson was phenomenal. Just beating the shit out of his kit. Playing like gonzo. From all indications, he's a pretty crazy party guy. He's the guy most likely to be shirtless in any given concert or for any given photo shoot.

What is it that draws us to musicians? What makes some look cool and others not?

Thomson is in a band with Alex Kapranos. A guy who I believe has been a model and dates models. He's a super suave, good-looking guy. Yet, I'm drawn to Thomson. Why has Brian Jones always seemed 100 times cooler despite sharing a band with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards? Even guys who listen to Franz Ferdinand get caught up in the cult of personality, but it's nothing the artist does or how a photographer captures their facial expressions or a shirtless drummer double fisting Budweisers.

Thomson would look cool even if he was plumber.

Are they cool because they're rock musicians? Or are they rock musicians because they're cool?