Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action

Four years after the last Franz Ferdinand album, Alex Kapranos and Co. come raging back with the tightest and most focused album of their career. The Scottish quartet has one foot in glam rock and the other in electronic dance music, making crossovers simple and light. It's actually a matter of degrees between the cheeky, bouncy "Stand on the Horizon" (which wants to dominant dance floors with a nonstop bass line) and "Love Illumination" (where the group cranks up the guitars, multiplies the vocals, and rocks harder than bands whose only job is to knock you out). McCartney-esque pop flows through the smooth-voiced "Fresh Strawberries." FF's most dangerous weapon is how well the members chase one another around the tracks, with bass and lead guitars choosing their octaves and never letting go. "Bullet" is a brutal lesson in team spirit. "Treason! Animals" works even harder. In the softer spots ("The Universe Expanded"), Kapranos sounds weary—but with such a supportive band behind him, he's never lonely for long. The deluxe version adds 13 live tracks, including eight live performances of new tracks to accompany five classic FF tunes.