CD Reviews

Review: Franz Ferdinand's Tonight: Franz Ferdinand

Domino (2009)

By ZETH LUNDY | January 27, 2009

3.0 Stars

On their third full-length, Franz Ferdinand continue to kick out that post-punk/disco thrust that made past singles "Take Me Out" and "Do You Want To" such loosened-skinny-tie pleasures.

But one listen to the eight-minute "Lucid Dreams," which disintegrates into electronic pulses and ambient shadows at its halfway mark, makes it clear that Tonight: Franz Ferdinand is more than a rehash of that stiff-armed methodology. Here the band, with producer Dan Carey (Hot Chip, CSS) at their side, dip their big toe into electro-pop, Afrobeat (sorta), new-wave seizures, and all manner of groove that bespeak body-rockin' pleasures.

In the feverish "Turn It On," Alex Kapranos sounds as if he were leading a riled mob to the club. And the shit-hot single "Ulysses," empathizing with its title character, documents a disorienting journey into the heart of rhythm. This music, a monomaniacal pursuit of movement, puts that feeling ably into its sway.

Annie | Don't Stop
Things have gotten pretty crowded in the electro-pop demi-monde since Annie released her indie-hit debut, Anniemal , back in 2004.
Y'all come back now . . .
I've always liked the idea of there being some weight to the "nines," meaning: if you're a year, and you're going to perch yourself at the very edge of a decade, you'd better be ready to represent.
Photos: Miracle just off of Tremont Street
WFNX's Miracle on Tremont Street, with Franz Ferdinand, Dearly Beloved, Airborne Toxic Event, Vampire Weekend, and Black Kids at the Orpheum Theatre, December 6 and 7, 2008
Are Animal Collective a jam band?
Like many white males in their early 30s with slowing metabolisms and dorkish concerns, I never really got what the big fucking deal was about Animal Collective. I was turned onto them years ago by a friend at an old workplace; he had better taste in music than me.
Third impressions
"With new bands I always listen to the third album," the Kinks’ Ray Davies has said. "That’s the real key to know what’s going to happen."
I Heart New York
Jed Perl’s New Art City is as knotty as it is ambitious.
Fresh works
The Brown/Trinity Playwrights Repertory Theatre is presenting three plays by writers and present directors from the MFA writing program consortium of Brown University and Trinity Repertory Company.
Montien Thai Cuisine
I consider myself lucky to live in a city in which my local Thai eatery is one of many Thai venues; if I care to venture across town for a change of scenery or a new take on tom yum soup, my dining options are more than doubled.
Folk re-revival
The laugh that opens Bruce Springsteen’s We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions is the first clue that what’s about to follow might actually be fun.
Death Cab for Cutie and Franz Ferdinand
Refugees from the heady indie explosion of 2003, Franz and Death Cab are currently sharing space on a concert poster featuring an emo-like Band-Aid heart and a MySpace logo.
The Forbidden Kingdom
Hong Kong action stars Jackie Chan and Jet Li don’t stray too far from type in this big-screen fairy tale: Chan plays a drunken kung fu master and Li’s a stoic monk with lethal reflexes.
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