Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand

INDIE POP

Franz Ferdinand, by their own admission, fluffed their second album, rushing it out to sustain the monstrous momentum of their million selling debut. You Could Have It So Much Better lived up to its name, a fuzzy photostat of the first record’s tarty magic. For their third they made the smart move of taking a break and reconvening to remind them (and us) what all the fuss was about.

Tonight is a return and a half: furtive, suggestive, faintly sleazy at points, this is a self-assured, headlong hurtle down a hedonistic highway that glitters with Blondie, Roxy Music, Giorgio Moroder, Can and Kraftwerk. Tonight is a teasing, rhythmically ingenious record that is comfortable with its roots but also eager to take those familiar shapes into new territory.

Like LCD Soundsytem’s masterful Sound of Silver, Tonight sounds simultaneously retro and futuristic, pouting and charming. A truly wonderful nocturnal emission.