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Franz Ferdinand’s latest album is a half-hearted attempt at rock music. The band has tried to desert its mellow-yet-upbeat sound in favor of Killers-esque dance rock. Because of this, “Tonight” is a failure.
On first listen, every song sounds identical. On second listen, they all sound identical and like someone else has already recorded them. Their use of repetition is tiring by the third track, because it’s pretty much the only thing going on. “Turn it On,” “No You Girls,” “What She Came For” and “Lucid Dreams” essentially consist of the same four lines repeated over and over and over. Reiteration is a respectable lyrical device, but not in this concentration.
The idea to stretch the album across two discs in the box set is a novel disaster. The second CD, “Blood,” is a compilation of alternate versions of eight of the original 12 songs, remixed with a more clubby, hip-hop sound. Or at least that’s what they were aiming for. The second disc ends up being basically mish-mashed, overstimulated instrumentals and is not worth the price of the 16 grams of plastic it was recorded on.
For all its flaws, there are a few bright spots on “Tonight.” “Bite Hard” is much more simplistic than the rest, with a basic beat and quick lyrics akin to 2005′s Franz Ferdinand and less like their new, tragic, “rock” persona. Likewise, “Can’t Stop Feeling” is more successful than the other tracks. Alex Kapranos sings, “You can’t feel any / You can’t feel anymore,” and he’s right. Even these “better” songs don’t cause much of a stir of emotions. The flat synthetic sounds of the majority of the album are thankfully absent in these songs; they could have been the foundation of a completely different album, but neither are going to be hits anytime soon.
A mediocre attempt from a usually intriguing band, “Tonight” is nothing you need to run out and buy tomorrow.
Grade: D
