Band: Franz Ferdinand
Release: 2009
Label: Domino Records

1. “Ulysses” – 9.2
2. “Turn It On” – 9.7
3. “No You Girls” – 9.7
4. “Twilight Omens” – 9.5
5. “Send Him Away” – 9.1
6. “Live Alone” – 8.8
7. “Bite Hard” – 9.4
8. “What She Came For” – 9.1
9. “Can’t Stop Feeling” – 9.3
10. “Lucid Dreams” – 9.6
11. “Dream Again” – 8.8
12. “Katherine Kiss Me” – 9.8

Background: Everyone remembers “Take Me Out.” Unfortunately, I never got the chance to listen to any more of Franz Ferdinand since they released that in 2004. The band stayed on independent label Domino even after that song exploded. Listening to “Take Me Out” for the first time in five years reminded me that this band is like many other video game soundtrack, slightly-below-the-mainstream bands (Hot Hot Heat, Louis XIV, The Bravery) with their fun dance punk.  Case in point for their quick breakthrough: they went from playing the teeny T.T The Bears in 2004 to playing the newly built Agganis Arena in 2006?

What’s On This Album: “Turn It On” is awesome and so is “No You Girls”! Check those out for sure. It’s almost hard not to enjoy listening to Franz! I’d even argue that this is more likable than something slightly similar (and on the same label) like Humbug by Arctic Monkeys, although Tonight has a lot of the same beats/bass lines that make these songs so good, but inevitably individually forgettable. “Can’t Stop Feeling” might be an exception to what I just said. It’s got this really heavy synthesizer and general swagger that isn’t easy to forget. Franz, I conclude, prides itself on anthemic choruses and bridges for survival. They don’t sell themselves out by doing this, but you got to admit that they probably work off a very limited number of song structures to create their musical goodness. They change it up for the last song “Katherine Kiss Me,” which is an acoustic The Veils-esque power ballad. They couldn’t make an album out of songs that sound like this, but this has to be easily one of the best on here.

Grade: 9.3