Flow Robots

There are some real identity crises here. Just who are Flobots? Are they the crusaders constructed to lead society to some higher consciousness through rebel-rousing anthems and some clever word play, or they just another megalomaniacal group that will never be as intelligent as Zach de la Rocha's fingernail? Listening to Fight With Tools, you get a fair argument for both cases.

In a world full of trite sentiments, any group claiming to have higher perspective than the masses runs the gamut of being called patronizing and hypocritical. In the song, "Same Thing," Jonny 5 spits lines like: Somewhere between prayer and revolution/between Jesus and Huey P. Newton/That's where you find Jonny 5 shoot shootin. There are some lines in this record where you forget if this is about the cause or the band. Though this album does achieve the aspect of starting discourse, I'm not sure it's the discourse they had in mind. You start to wonder if they've ever seen racism or bigotry, or are they just another band emulating the formula of a Public Enemy because of some over-pixelated videos on Youtube?

One of the highlights of this album comes with the track, "Handlebars." In a song that reflects and redefines what true power is, this song is meant to take aim for the world's collective
consciousness. And as the trumpets swoon and guitars distort out of a Tommy James and the Shondells hit for the crescendo, even the most dense listener might find their right hand raised in the air. But for the smart listener, it may come across that they are trying very hard to be something they're not. As the end careens to a fiery explosion, you hear Jonny 5 shout, "And I can end this world in a holocaust," with a sample of a crowd chanting in agreeance. For some it's powerful, here it's just cheesy.

"Never Had It" features an opening sung by Mackenzie Roberts (violist). This song is completely derailed from the sub par vocal performances. It was like they were channeling the outcome of this song with its title. This is a rap group. They should not forget it. This fortunately flows into a jazzy, bluesy track in "Combat", which in my opinion, is the highlight of the record. Laying down a simple beat box and head-swaying bass pick, Jonny 5 murders the track, which lets the audience know he may be more comfortable in a freestyle nature. Building song structure is different from letting him go crazy over a sample.

The record ends with slowly building, "Rise." A call to arms, reaching out to those that want a change. Musically, this album isn't horrible, it's actually pleasant. But when entering the arena of conscious hip/hop, you are remembered by what you say and not how you present it. Flobots can't seem to climb their way out of cliched, pop-dom. Everything sounds theatric and self-serving. No world-avenging band will ever to shake bigotry, greed, and globalization, while sounding this pretty on the outside.

In the song, "Handlebars," Jonny 5 raps, "I can keep rhythm with no metronome." With each song falling in the same rhythmical structure, part of me wish they would have smashed the metronome in a million pieces.


6/10


This. Is. Truth.