![]() The more synth-heavy, groove oriented sound carries through much of "Tonight." And several songs break new ground for Franz Ferdinand. Kapranos said the first song that seemed to give the new CD a focus was "Ulysses." That song leads off "Tonight," and its pulsing bass line, vaguely reggae-ish beat and fat synthesizer riffs immediately signals that the new CD would mess with the sound the band established on their first two CDs. So there was a certain amount of jamming and like playing with new ideas, and maybe taking the same song and trying to do it in 14 different ways (asking), OK, when are we going to hit on something that's exciting?" "We wanted to create this new sonic identity. "I know at the beginning there was a lot of experimenting with sounds, not necessarily just wanting to write songs," Kapranos said. When the band reconvened, they kept a low profile and took the necessary time to find a new groove musically. This meant taking the first real break from recording and touring, as band members Kapranos (vocals/guitar), guitarist Nick McCarthy, bassist Bob Hardy and drummer Paul Thomson each went their separate ways for several months in 2007. The band essentially hit the reset button on its career after "You Could Have It So Much Better." "And I feel that you really have to kind of earn the respect of your fans in some way and not rely upon hype." "I felt with our first and second records, there was an element of hype that appeared around our band that wasn't invited by us, which we kind of felt ill at ease with," he said. In fact, he seems pleased that the kind of talk that greeted the first two Franz Ferdinand albums – such as the Franz Ferdinand being the group that was going to change the face of modern rock and usher in a new British invasion - has died down for now. Kapranos, though, doesn't sound all that disappointed that "Tonight" hasn't yet set the charts on fire. After seeing its first two Grammy-nominated CDs, 2004's "Franz Ferdinand" (which one million copies sold) and 2005's "You Could Have It So Much Better," each produce top 10 singles (such as "Take Me Out" from the first album and "Do You Want To" from the second CD), "Tonight" has yet to register strongly with American audiences. The band may be paying a price for its contrarian way. I guess the same principal was taking us to this new sound." ![]() "That's kind of how we got our identity in the beginning anyway by listening to what was around us and trying to rebel against that. "I guess we've always been awkward, cantankerous people who never really wanted to fit in," added Kapranos, who is actually quite affable and articulate. "I know that toward the middle of 2006, I remember way back then thinking whatever we do next, it's got to sound different, mainly for our own sense of satisfaction. "After that (second) record came out, I just felt there was so much of that sound around about us, kind of as we were touring that record, I kept on hearing things around about me where I was thinking, 'this sound is becoming kind of ubiquitous'," Kapranos said in an early April phone interview. It was a risky move to so significantly reshape the Franz Ferdinand sound, but one singer Alex Kapraonos says the band had to make to stay true to its ideals. The group has dialed down the wiry guitars that were featured on its first two albums, and instead punched up the synthesizers and bass and pushed the dance elements of earlier songs further to the forefront of its sound. Where: Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St., Seattleįranz Ferdinand's recently released third CD, "Tonight: Franz Ferdinand," finds the band doing something fairly rare for a group that has enjoyed considerable commercial success.
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