Flobots - Fight with Tools

The album begins with a violin intro followed by a melodic drum marching beat with a voice over advising of an intellectual war going on. This dictation flow ends abruptly as the intro to 'Mayday' kicks in... "Born in the flood bloody finger paint sets" one of the most gripping intros I have heard this year. I guess by now you have worked out this is not a happy go lucky album!! Fight with Tools is a very well produced album with some seriously addictive groves, but it is also very politically based. And by political I do not mean like in the sixties protest song mold of hidden meaning and symbolism, no this is a protest album for the modern spoon fed generation. You are left with little doubt as to the views of the band. They oppose the war in Iraq, they are anti republican and also support the legalization of weed, how do I know this? Well because they say so basically word for word. To the bands credit rather than just moaning about their issues with the world, they do attempt to suggest answers to the issues they raise. Would their ideas stand up to a political debate? Maybe not! Will they be sending McCain a Christmas card? Definitely not! Away moving away from the politics of Flobots, what is the music like? Well I have heard them compared to Jurassic 5 and this is a fair comparison on some of their weaker less aggressive tracks, however on the majority of tunes they are pretty unique. Bringing together rap/RnB vocals, rock sounds and some interesting Irish fiddle/violin style tunes. For the first month I barely listened to anything other than Fight with Tools, on every listen I found something new to enjoy. The hit single 'Handlebars' is a must have for any collection and definitely one of the songs of 2008 and certainly the most infectious. This is an album that you will definitely not regret buying and with the lyrics being so topical, I am looking forward to revisiting this album years from now to judge how times they have a changed and in many ways hopefully for the better.

Best Song: 'Mayday' , 'Handlebars' and 'Anne Braden'
Favourite Song: 'Fight with Tools'
Album Rating: 3.5/5
Where to Listen: At a party with liberal mates, MP3 player, when thinking about starting a revolution .
Check them out: http://www.myspace.com/flobots