Pitchfork

Tonight, they've got off, but over the next few months, free evenings will be few and far between for the dashing lads of Franz Ferdinand. The band, fresh off the digital release of new single "Ulysses" and currently out on the road in the States, has lined up a whole mess of European dates in the late winter and early spring in support of their forthcoming third LP, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (due in the UK January 26 via Domino and in the U.S. the next day via Domino USA/Epic). Looks like the cover art got a little more interesting since the last time we checked in with it, as you can see above.

And boy, what a day that will be when Tonight hits stores, in quite a few varieties. Apart from the standard-issue set, Domino's also offering up a few pretty nifty looking expanded versions of the album.

One, the "Special Edition", gets you the CD and the entire album spread over six 7" singles, a dub version of the album on CD called Blood: Tonight, a 40-minute DVD documentary on the making of the disc called Between Summertown & Merryland that also includes four filmed performances, a 24-page hardback book with lyrics and photos, and one of those things you stick in the hole in the 7"s. Yowsers, just look at this thing:



The other deluxe package is a limited edition CD set that gets you the Blood dub disc in addition to Tonight proper. Oh, and if you preorder the album from the U.S. iTunes store, you'll not only get "Ulysses" post haste, but also two bonus tracks upon the album's release: "Ulysses (The Disco Bloodbath Effect)" and "Feeling Kind of Anxious".

And, hey, while we're talking bonus, here are a few photos from Franz's December 8 gig at Crystal Ballroom in Portland, courtesy of Nilina Mason-Campbell. Also: those Of Montreal goofballs will join Franz when they hit London January 20. What an awesomely strange night that's gonna be.







Franz:

12-11 Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena (Live 105 show)
12-12 Las Vegas, NV - The Joint (KVGS show)
12-14 Los Angeles, CA - Gibson Amphitheatre (KROQ show)
12-15 San Diego, CA - Canes
12-29 Gisborne, New Zealand - Rhythm & Vines Festival
12-30 Marion Bay, Australia - Falls Festival
12-31 Lorne, Australia - Falls Festival
01-03 Busselton, Australia - Southbound Festival
01-05 Melbourne, Australia - Palace Theatre *
01-06 Sydney, Australia - Enmore Theatre *
01-08 Brisbane, Australia - Sunset Sounds Festival
01-14 Edinburgh, Scotland - The Picture House
01-20 London, England - Heaven ^
02-28 Limerick, Ireland - Dolans
03-01 Dublin, Ireland - Olympia
03-04 Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowlands
03-06 Manchester, England - Academy
03-08 Birmingham, England - Academy
03-09 London, England - Hammersmith Apollo
03-12 Brussels, Belgium - AB Club
03-13 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
03-14 Cologne, Germany - Palladium
03-16 Lille, France - Aeronef
03-17 Paris, France - Olympia
03-20 Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega
03-21 Stockholm, Sweden - Circus
03-22 Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene
03-24 Hamburg, Germany - Docks
03-25 Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle
03-26 Munich, Germany - Tonhalle
03-28 Zurich, Switzerland - Schiffbauhalle
03-29 Bologna, Italy - Estragon
03-30 Milan, Italy - Alcatraz
04-01 Toulouse, France - Bikini
04-02 Bilboa, Spain - Pabellón de la Casilla
04-03 Madrid, Spain - Palacio de Deportes
04-04 Granada, Spain - Coliseo Ciudad de Atarfe

* with the Cribs, Red Riders
^ with Of Montreal