Tonight and the Morning After3 Out Of 5 Stars
Alleged to be a concept album about a hard party of a night and the following morning, Franz Ferdinand attempt to shift direction on their third album. "You're never going home," they belt on the opening salvo, "Ulysses." Offering their usual angular guitar attack on top of some squiggly synth lines, it's their call to being ready to party. They try to pick up the ladies ("No You Girls"), get a spot on the dance floor (the electronically extended "Lucid Dreams") and realize that it's all been a waste of time ("Katherine Kiss Me," which sounds like an apology to "No You Girls"). It's Franz Ferdinand's most ambitious album so far.
It's not just a boy's night out, as the longing for "Katherine" shoes. They switch to the ladies' point of view for disco-fied "What She Came For." Franz frontman Alex Kapranos lets go of the hedonist inside to let the woman try and hit on him, then lets loose with a kicking deceivingly not-disco guitar solo. That doesn't stop the band from nudging the dance floor, especially on the following track "Live Alone." The big switch is that the crunchy guitars that made "Take Me Out" or "Do You Want To" from the previous album are strapped to throbbing basses and slinky keyboards.
Not every band gets to try this bold a maneuver, but the Ferds pull it off neatly. Fans of the group's guitar based albums might be put off, but repeat listens reward the patient. "Tonight: Franz Ferdinand" makes the case the FF remain a band to pay attention to.
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