Fight With Tools

I recently bought this album after hearing "Handlebars" on a local station and have found myself actually enjoying many of the other tracks even more. I will say, their lyrics tend to be very political (along the lines of Rage Against the Machine) and if you don't agree then, well, you probably won't like the Flobots. I personally find the lyrics very powerful and inspiring, something frankly RARE in the realm of hip-hop (admittedly, I am more of an alt rock girl).

Musically, this band is simply amazing. Throwing trumpet and violin into the mix? Genius. (And I swear I heard a banjo on a couple of tracks.) "The Rhythm Method (Move!)" uses some of the craziest metric shifts I've ever heard in popular music. I have a degree in music and had to listen to this song about a dozen times to figure it out! (LOL, my music-fu may be slipping...) How many current artists out there even know what 7/8 time is?

If you like political lyrics with a strong message, buy this album. If you like some rap but are generally turned off by the messages, buy this album. If you like genre-crossing instrumentation, style, rhythm and real musicianship, buy this album!

This band performed with "Rage Against the Machine" here in Denver during the Democratic National Convention. At the end of the show, most of the 7000 people in attendence joined a march led by "Iraq Veterans Against the War." See The Ground Truth and Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan: Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations for more on that movement.
It was a powerful scene, as a couple thousand other people joined in the march to the Pepsi Center where the Dems were gathering. After being faced with a phalanx of a few hundred Robocops ready to pounce on protesters, an Obama representative came out and received the letter from the members of IVAW.

I noticed that Amy Goodman of "Democracy Now!" reported on this peaceable assembly, and used the Flobots' performance for their bumper music between news segments (see Democracy Now's 8/28/08 archive).

Just today I smoked a bowl and revisited this CD. The Benefits of Marijuana: Physical, Psychological & Spiritual
I'll be sharing this disc, a radical tool itself, with many others.
The viola is a great touch.

Some related tools to resist the corporate colonization of our minds:
Why We Fight
The Corporation
Rage Against the Machine
Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times
The Ecological Revolution: Making Peace with the Planet
Yes!

"Let your life be a counterforce to the machine." - Henry David Thoreau
New Suns Will Arise : From the Journals of Henry David Thoreau

An eclectic mix of songs. A couple are not great, but most are a lot of fun, and the Progressively minded lyrics give you much to think about!

This album is not only great, it is inspiring. I have listened to this album, probably, 100 times this summer. Everyone I have exposed to this album has purchased it. I cannot give a higher recommendation than this!

I'm usually very hesitant purchasing an album based off one song when the genre (rap in this case) isn't one I usually listen to. Generally speaking, I'll love the one song and not listen to the rest of the album. In this case, though, I'm glad I broke my rule and picked up Fight With Tools because "Handlebars" isn't the only terrific song on this album.

Flobots reminds me of a couple different bands. They have hints of the politically charged Rage Against the Machine, but are more optimistic. There's the hornwork and a tinge of punk of some 90s ska bands, like Real Big Fish, only more hard-biting. There's the meticulous and nicely flowing rap like a lot of hip-hop artists today, only with more important things to say. But not only are there specific inspirations at work here, but a multitude of genres from rock to jazz to soul to hip-hop and beyond.

When the introduction opens, I realized that Flobots was presenting a thesis and that the rest of the album would be in support of their point. In fact, the words "There's A War Going On For Your Mind," as the opening states, are repeated a couple times throughout to stress this point. "Mayday!" starts wonderfully, adding a nice violin to the mix, an unexpected addition but a great one. "Same Things"'s jazz roots show through, with a kind of old school feel in new school shoes. From here, the CD takes off, but it's the last three songs that really pack the punch.

The ending starts with the song "Anne Braden," about the advocate of racial equality. Interspersed through this touching song are audio clips of Anne speaking about her thoughts on race. It creates a very introspective and moving song about her life and the the trials she and similar individuals went through. Her story is a good one.

Then we move to "We Are Winning," a plea for the people to become involved and active. It also tries to present a different picture; a different idea than ones crammed down our throat by showing the opposite of what we usually hear, with lyrics like, "Rival gangsters sit down to plan an after school program / A religious fanatic posts footage of an interfaith service project." They close with "Rise," which continues the plea of activisim.

All in all a very good album. Do I agree with everything professed in this album? No. Some of it steers a bit outside my scope and, sometimes, comfort zone. But isn't that what the best material should do? Take you outside your comfort zone and provoke thought? That's exactly what we have here; Fight With Tools not only provokes, but does so in an intelligent and witty fashion. But it's not all serious. Even if you strip away the political connotations, the music is what first hooked me. It's been a long time since I've heard music that's daring, different and similar all at the same time. A very good CD and one I heartily recommend.