In 2004, Franz Ferdinand smashed down the obstinate walls of popular charts for many indie bands to follow with the mind staining riff that crystallised their debut hit single ‘Take Me Out.” Whilst their subsequent self-titled album became a worldwide phenomenon, they struggled to maintain their snowballing momentum with “You Could Have It So Much Better” the following year in 2005.
Four years later, with the release of their third album “Tonight: Franz Ferdinand” the post-punk-glam-white-funk Scotsmen, led by front man Alex Kapranos have adopted new themes and sounds to suggest the four-year wait was worth the while.
Perhaps this is consequence to a bout of studio stimulation by Hot Chip producer Dan Carey, who has facilitated the induction of both afrobeat ‘Vampire Weekend-esc’ reverberation (featuring most clearly on “Send Him Away”) and electro-pop. This is best crystallised in the epic “Lucid Dreams,” a seven minute journey from ‘Franz style’ guitar chord, chorus oriented pop (remnant of past single “Walk Away”) to a disappointing ‘Hot Chip-esc’ techno-synth let down.
Whilst they may have missed the mark on that one, hit single and album opener “Ulysses” screams “Take Me Out” as it so clearly reminds us how and why we fell so head over heels for this charismatic foursome five years ago. With a voice that stares you down with an arrogant sparkle in its eye, Kapranos makes you’re bones dance and sing inside you, as you think to yourself; “fuck these guys are cool.” There is little doubt the influence of Carey’s disco synth has enlightened the boys with the competitive edge missing in their second album “You Could Have It So Much Better.”
The album’s second and third tracks “Turn It On” and “No You Girls” although relatively conservative pop entities for the album sends us a pivotal reminder that Franz Ferdinand have, over the past five years developed a distinct sound and chorus focus that will continue to resonate their tunes for as long as they continue to produce music.
The soul-funk synth screaming “What She Came For” delineates a distinct step in the right direction for the band as the amalgamation of Kapranos’ vocal and lyrical finger pointing would make even the most ardent critics jump up and dance.
“Tonight: Franz Ferdinand” at times strays too far from their roots and perhaps boasts ‘too much’ diversity for one album. There is little doubt that the introduction of afrobeat, and disco-synth has acted as a double-edged sword that has created both the amazing pinnacles and desperate failures that echo every little note of this rollercoaster of an album. I commend the steps taken by the Scottish fab-four to expand their musical horizons and contend that it was worth the four-year wait!
Rating (/10):
--- Contributed by Dan 'Core' Swart
Genius Review. More from this swart 'core' character please!
ReplyDelete