Franz Ferdinand – Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
8/10

Tonight has a really retro feel, a more jangling, jamming approach than Franz Ferdinand’s self-titled debut that saw them catapult to cult fandom and totally win my heart. Their sophomore effort, You Could Have It So Much Better, was a huge change from the band’s initial sound, with more beefed-out, pummelling guitars in songs like The Fallen and This Boy and the alternatively slow pondering of Eleanor Put Your Boots On and the blissfully beautiful Fade Together. Now with Tonight we have a yet again refreshed Franz, bugging out on the always-impeccable, this-time-even-more-disco bass, and experimenting more with tinkling guitars, pattering drums and swoonful lyrics, like in fourth track Send Him Away. Tonight really works, Franz reinvents themselves yet again and builds upon their already interesting straight-out rock and roll formula. There’s the swampy psychedelia of Twilight Omens, the simple, echoey Velvet Underground-like jam of Dream Again and a piercing attack of Bite Hard. Squelchy swamp rock single and opening track Ulysses also stands out, it can be jarring at first as it’s so different from their previous sound, but its slowed-down, restrained synth romp soon sticks in your head and demands repeated listens. Following tracks Turn It On and No You Girls are equally as endearing, the latter being a soundtrack to an iPod ad (all the kids are doing it nowadays). A highlight comes in the extended end of tenth track Lucid Dreams, with its sweet synths breaking away and gradually bubbling into experimental digi-pop that then surrenders into a totally rad and unexpected glitchy rave at the end. Tonight is a bit harder to get to know than Franz’s previous efforts – it requires a bit more patience and open-mindedness – but if you give it a chance it will really impress.
Sarah

 

Posted by Sarah Gooding under Album, Reviews
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