the flobots / albums

4,981,944 plays
1,537 SHARES
7,817 FAVS
198 fans

- Fight With Tools
- - 4,042,626 plays
  - 7,502 favs
  - 1,200 shares
The Flobots
Released 2008

Mayday!!!
04:37
336,846 plays

Stand Up
04:39
285,591 plays

Rise
04:14
280,019 plays

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songs

- 1
- There's A War Going On For Your Mind
- 01:23
- 221,384 plays

- 2
- Mayday!!!
- 04:37
- 336,846 plays

- 3
- Same Thing
- 03:29
- 218,422 plays

- 4
- Stand Up
- 04:39
- 285,591 plays

- 5
- Fight With Tools
- 04:51
- 215,773 plays

- 6
- Handlebars
- 03:27
- 1,415,768 plays

- 7
- Never Had It
- 05:08
- 244,470 plays

- 8
- Combat
- 02:06
- 274,898 plays

- 9
- The Rhythm Method (Move!)
- 03:53
- 189,668 plays

- 10
- Anne Braden
- 04:21
- 174,850 plays

- 11
- We Are Winning
- 03:27
- 187,759 plays

- 12
- Rise
- 04:14
- 280,019 plays

album review

When listening to the Flobots debut album, Fight with Tools, there's a feeling that all the destruction and injustice this politically motivated alt rap crew speak of has been seen through CNN and YouTube. There's a certain grit missing, a certain soul that comes from living the nightmare and surviving, and whether they've been through it or not, the Flobots just don't display it. Fight with Tools also feels like a college class project partly because it's so clean but also because it's incredibly busy with ambition and new ideas overflowing as everything and the kitchen sink get thrown into the record. This youthful ambition and willingness to explore is also what makes the record special. The Denver crew enter by spitting out a Gil Scott-Heron by way of Def Poetry Jam bit of prose on the opening "There's a War Going on for Your Mind," offering surreal lines like "It's raining pornography/Lovers take shelter" over melancholy chamber music. That's the Flobots' real hook; they rap with a live band, and not the guitar, bass, drums beat combo you've seen before. It's all of the above and some strings, horns, and other things left over from the orchestra and marching band. This isn't as Kids from Fame as it sounds, since the Flobots do have a believablly stern pose, and if they aren't experienced, they are brilliantly educated and aware. Good points are made with skill and fine wordplay, the guitars and drums crunch along driving home the message with head-bobbing grooves, and then album opens up with the marvelous "Handlebars," a carefully crafted, slowly building tale of the ego run wild via some beautiful muted trumpet. It's a very Fort Minor moment, and sweet relief from all the pain and in-your-face politics, suggesting the Flobots could benefit from a little more restraint. Here, they've got so much to stay it's hardly worth considering. If the talented young bucks want to shout down the world as if they own the place, why curb their inspiring appetite for justice by asking for discipline and composure? ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide

more albums by this artist

See all

- - Present Platypus
  - Released 2005

- - Fight With Tools (Edited)
  - Released 2008

listener reviews

- - help me
  - - By HotSauce217
    - 3/27/2009 23:44:13
  - im trying to get platypus but i cant find it anywhere, does anyone have it?!
    
    by the way a great band love their music
  - 1 out of 1 people
  - think this is useful

- - Great
  - - By Fireworkman27
    - 9/28/2008 13:03:29
  - Great band! Great music! Great Rebulious Spirt.
  - 1 out of 1 people
  - think this is useful

- - Handlebars...what a song
  - - By sail2371
    - 8/21/2008 16:27:21
  - Love the elevation of arrogance with that's perfectly crescendoed and highlighted by a talented trumpet mixed with sweet beats. I usually don't like political artists, mostly because they seem to lack an actual grasp of what they're singing about. But these guys do a perfect job of comparing America to an adolescent teenager. It all comes back around at the end..."I can ride my bike with no handle bars, no handle bars, no handle bars..."
  - 2 out of 2 people
  - think this is useful

- - Great Band
  - - By pknath19
    - 6/15/2008 22:51:25
  - I can't wait to see them live!
  - 2 out of 3 people
  - think this is useful

- - A look at the world with music
 - - By Music Live
 - 5/23/2008 04:38:35
 - The title says it all about this album. Straight out of Colorado and ready to rock peoples worlds, Flobots packs a powerful sound, energy, and lyrics. Highly political (relating mostly to today's controversies and hot topics throughout the world), Fight With Tools packs a raging pulse that'll make you sway and sing and really take a look at whats really happening around you. Though the lyrics involve mostly political themes, Flobots portrays the messages using enough mixed synth beats and instruments like violins, trumpet, and often heavy guitar rifts to keep the listener focused and wondering whats coming next. The single Handlebars has hit the charts and proved to be very successful leading the U.S. Modern Rock chart at #5 and #67 on the Billboard Hot 100. Truly a powerful album, Fight With Tools makes the listener think while giving them a rich sound to move to all while maintaining a true hip-hop feel. Even if not a fan of hip-hop or rap, this band has it all in sound and offers something to every kind of listener. ~playON
 - 5 out of 5 people
 - think this is useful