For the record

Author: Alex Blair

Franz Ferdinand has always been a dance band. On their 2004 self-titled debut, the lads from Scotland used energized guitar and bass rhythms to create the grooves on tracks like the top-ten single "Take Me Out" and the disco throwback "Darts Of Pleasure." Five years later, the band is still making people hit the dance floor, but this time around they seem to have fully embraced the dance-rock genre, making an excellent album brimming with sonic delights and textures. From the opening bass line of "Ulysses," the first single and opening track on the band's long awaited third album, "Tonight: Franz Ferdinand" there seems to be a bit more bounce and groove in their instrumentation. Listen a little longer and keyboards and synthesizers kick in, creating electric feedback that transforms the song from a slow, bass-heavy romp into a dance-pop gem. When lead vocalist Alex Kapranos snarls "but last night was wild," the track's louche undertones rise to the surface, setting the stage for everything that is to come. "Ulysses" encapsulates the entirety of the album: debauchery and dance.

The aptly titled "Tonight" is a concept album based on an evening on the town filled with drugs ("I'm bored/Let's get high"), alcohol ("I can imagine/Having a drink with that guy"), and, most prominently, sex ("Lick your cigarette, then kiss me/Kiss me where your eye won't meet me"). In a recent interview with the indie music website Pitchfork, Kapranos stated that the album is a "nighttime record . . . it's got the moods of night to me, it's not like an L.A. sunshine kind of record. There's the idea of suggestion, which makes the night so much more exciting." With a mixture of saucy lyrics and dance grooves and beats, "Tonight" delves deep into the atmosphere of an all night party and doesn't let up for a moment. On "Turn It On," Kapranos bellows the song's title over a backing of electronic rhythms while on "No You Girls," the band's best song since "Take Me Out," the cockiness of the lyrics ("I never wonder/How the girl feels") is matched by the swagger and catchiness of the chorus. "Live Alone" is a full-out disco track with a pulsating beat and waves of synthesizers that create an irresistible hip-shaker. The band's foray into electronic music culminates with the album's longest and most ambitious track, "Lucid Dreams." The near eight-minute epic begins with the familiar dance-rock formula found on the previous songs, but in its final four minutes it turns into pure electronica. The guitars and vocals completely disappear, leaving only a steady thump and droning synthesizers to fill the void. Here the group sounds less like Franz Ferdinand and more like the Crystal Castles or Justice, but it works. Occasionally they'll throw in a few surprises like the opening of "Bite Hard" with its gentle piano playing or the blistering guitar solo at the end of "What She Came For," but even these tracks have catchy, kinetic grooves at their core.

Every night out must come to a close, and Franz Ferdinand's finishes with the album's last two tracks, which play as soothing lullabies. "Dream Again" resembles a '60s psychedelic piece with its woozy vocal melody and imagery of "mountains," "oceans" and "canyons". The song still makes use of keyboards and synthesizers, but here they are sparse and used to accent the tune's languid pace. Tonight's final track, "Katherine Kiss Me," is even more stripped down. A mere acoustic guitar is backed by a single piano while Kapranos sings about the morning after. When he proclaims "Yes, I love you" to Katherine, it seems like the album's lyrical theme has changed completely, but Franz Ferdinand wouldn't let it end on such an affectionate note. Kapranos' last words reveal that he really doesn't "wonder how the girl feels," bringing everything full circle and making "Tonight: Franz Ferdinand" one of the best releases of the new year and a hell of a night out.