Dirty whispers greet the listener on “Ulysses,” the opening track on Franz Ferdinand’s new album Tonight: Franz Ferdinand. This hush, and the fuzzy dissonance that accompanies it, foreshadows the party record for a party gone bad feel that resonates throughout Tonight.
At times the album highlights the very best of Franz Ferdinand. “Send Him Away” is playful and coy. “Bite Hard” and “What She Came For” exude a swagger that is driven by bass and drums. But nothing is done nearly as sharp as the band’s self-titled debut. There is no point where this album reaches out and grabs the listener and compels them to come along for the ride like almost every track on Franz Ferdinand.
The band defiantly strives to be more electronic sounding on Tonight. While this occasionally is interesting (like the electric banjo on “Twilight Omens”), more often than not it seems like it doesn’t have a real point. At times it almost seems like Franz Ferdinand is trying to make a record just to be remixed into dance songs, because so many of the electronic twitters are just forced.
This is clearest on the track “Lucid Dreams.” The song comes in at a shade under 8 minutes. 8 minutes! And half of the track is devoted to musical noodling that serves no purpose. I’m not one for really long songs, especially by a band that is at it’s best when it is punchy and quick.
In contrast the album’s closer, “Katherine Kiss Me,” is the most simplistic and best song on the album. With acoustic guitar picking and lead singer Alex Kapranos delivering lyrics slickly, the track just feel so authentically alive compared to the rest of Tonight.
Tonight is a fine album, but that’s all it is. It’s fine. There is really nothing to keep a listener invested in the the songs. It can be played as background music and one would still get the same out of it as if they were listening intently. The lack of variety makes Tonight more of a calm Tuesday evening than a raucous Saturday night.
Review Score: 7.0
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