Categories : Music Reviews, Rock + Pop.
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Rating: 3.5 / 5 Reviewer: Steve Venegas |
So the guys in Franz Ferdinand are back after their lukewarm sophomore attempt from a few years back. Quick, name two songs from that album. Time’s up. You couldn’t, could you? That’s ok, I don’t think anyone can considering the lead blimp known as You Could Have Had It So Much Better took off with such a thud.
Remember the self-titled first album? Remember how exciting and fun it was? The off-kilter timing in ‘Take Me Out’ got the kids dancing, ‘This Fire’ got them rocking, ‘Dark of the Matinee’ got them rolling.
But there are no real stand-alone contenders on Tonight, the new offering from the tight-panted Scots. Sure, it’s a bit of a retreat to their previous works, (not so avant with their garde) hearkening back to the beats that endeared them to the hips of millions, so there are no art-party fusterclucks to entertain and amuse.
That being said, while Alex and company may be playing it a bit safe this time around – or rather splitting the differences between familiarity and exploration – there are some interesting advances to speak of. Felling twiddle-happy, the album is saturated with electronic bleeps and bloops ala fellow UK indie-darlings Hot Chip, industrial-infused ditties like the stomping track ‘Lucid Dreams,’ and ‘Bite Hard’ sound like a like something the Stray Cats dragged in.
All in all, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand sounds exactly like you’d expect the third album of a mercurial upstart band to sound like; the audio equivalent of hedging your bets. Keep the fans happy, make sure the critics like you, and sell some records.
Ending with the acoustic track, ‘Katherine Kiss Me,’ Franz Ferdinand want to leave us with the impression that, yes, they still are the same thoughtful, lovelorn, ambiguously sexual troubadours they’ve always been. But ultimately if comes off as too calculated to be charming, leaving us with the caterwauls of disingenuous contract players.
