Motherfish #3- Dancing and Dead People

New Music Tuesday

Welcome back to Motherfish Music. Since today is the first Tuesday of the month, I will deliver new music as promised. I went through a few different new releases before I picked one that I thought would be a suitable choice for the first New Music Tuesday. As a matter of fact, today’s album was brought to my attention by a friend of mine, and I liked it so much that I decided to save my original review for today for next week and write a whole new review. You better like this shit.

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Tonight: Franz Ferdinand by Franz Ferdinand

Now, I’m a long time fan of Franz Ferdinand, but I did not expect this album to sound anything like this. The band’s first and second albums had a groovy streak a mile wide in them, but it was under layers of pop and even punk. Tonight offers much more for the fans of FF’s dance feel. The guitar has been toned down in favor of a more synth and drum/bass sound; the album is very techno-heavy. But in a good way. I will say this, one thing that makes FF’s sound so unique is Alex Kapranos’ vocal style, which hasn’t changed. The melodies and lyrics could be at home on either of the first two releases, although the subject matter is a new frontier for the band. Tonight is actually a concept album. It’s about fucking bitches and then feeling like shit the next day. Basically. It’s about mischief and debauchery and doing manly things out with the guys. And then the next day. You know the feeling, Maybe you hooked up with an uggo, maybe you puked in your buddy’s car, maybe you drunk dialed your dad. Who knows. The point is this: the album is undeniably badass.

The amount of time spent in studio between You Could Have it So Much Better and Tonight shows on the album, their sound has matured, that’s fur shur. But ultimately, despite all of the tweaks to their style, and experiments with different influences, Tonight still remains Franz Ferdinand. It still has the flair and energy fans of the band would expect. But fuck. There’s something else. Besides the drummer’s incorporation of African rhythms, he fucking recorded percussion on a human skeleton. Yeah, that’s right. Son of a bitch recorded percussion with a pelvis and some femurs. I’m not making that shit up. You can hear it on track 3, No You Girls. DAMN! That’s wild. The single Ulysses, though not my favorite song on the album (that honor lies with the 7:56 techno-epic Lucid Dreams), does have a purpose. As the single and album opener, it serves as a stylistic transition from the dance-rock of You Could Have it So Much Better to the dance-human-fucking-pelvis-indie-pop of Tonight. The sounds is actually somewhat similar to Day & Age, the latest release by The Killers, only more varied. I suppose the difference being The Killers (more on them at a later date) have a more radio friendly sound to cater to a wider audience, and Franz Ferdinand, well, doesn’t. Despite the darkness of the themes, Tonight has high energy and a playfulness that you really only get when a band is experimenting with their sound and genuinely having a good time. You’ll have a good time listening to this album. It’s great driving music.

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Well readers that concludes our first New Music Tuesday. I picked up this new release, chewed on it, digested it, and shat out a heaping pile of dancenotronic fun. Check this album out. Join me next time when Album of the Week brings you an album about food and how much love and life suck.

Until then, keep breathing.