Franz Ferdinand makes good on its stated desire to produce a "dirty pop" album with "rhythm- and dance-based" songs on "Tonight: Franz Ferdinand," due Jan. 29 via Epic.
Throughout, the Scottish band lets its funky bass lines handle much of the heavy lifting, decorating them with vintage synth melodies straight out of the Genesis (opener "Ulysses") or Sparks ("Live Alone") playbooks.
Elsewhere, the band's cold grooves nod to Wire ("Turn It On"), Can ("Send Him Away") and "Miss You"-era Rolling Stones ("Kiss Me," "What She Came For"), while "Dream Again" is a more subdued number with drum machine backing and closer "Katherine Kiss Me" trots out acoustic guitars.
Franz Ferdinand recorded the 12-track album at its own headquarters in Govan, Glasgow, and the London studio of producer Dan Carey. "Tonight" follows 2005's "You Could Have It So Much Better," which has sold 378,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Following a handful of one-off performances last week in New York, the band returns to the road for a short European tour beginning Nov. 13 in Paris.
Billboard.com
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