Flobots – Fight With Tools
Rating: 
Review Date: February 11, 2008
Website: Flobots Website
Label: Universal
Flobots “Fight With Tools” Album Review
Flobots’ “Fight With Tools” is an album that immediately jumped out from the stack of CDs I was considering for review this week – and for several reasons. First, the Flobots are an instrumental hip-hop band. In addition to two skilled emcees, the group features instrumentation uncommon in hip-hop these days, including lead violin, guitar, bass, drum and horns in virtually every track. Second, the Flobots are a hip-hop group deeply rooted in conscious political dialogue. Of the twelve tracks in “Fight With Tools,” there is not one that fails to comment on current events, world history or humanitarian unity.
But what impressed me the most about Flobots’ “Fight With Tools” was the manner in which the group presented their views within the music. While many political hip-hop acts can come across as preachy, angry or negative, the Flobots do not. Their lyrics, despite the tendency to criticize the powers that be for events such as 9/11, Iraq and Katrina, are optimistic and inspiring, and the presence of the band creates a live show vibe that is celebratory and refreshing.
The head nodder of the album is undoubtedly the album’s opening musical track, Mayday!!! This song depends on heavy guitar strums and violin chords that are masterfully intertwined with well-placed trumpet and percussion parts. The beat bounces back and forth, relying on the guitar for the verses and the violin for the hook in order to provide a canvas for switching flows and background vocals.
Yet Mayday!!! is just the first track on “Fight With Tools” that demonstrates the Flobots’ live performance potential. Same Thing, Stand Up, Combat and The Rhythm Method all seem to have a great live audience appeal. And Stand Up gives a great introduction to the Flobots’ social stance with a powerful chorus:
Stand up/
We shall not be moved/
Except by a child with no socks and shoes/
Except by a woman dying from a loss of food/
Except for a freedom fighter bleeding on a cross for you/
Stand up/
We shall not be moved/
And we won’t fight a war for a fossil fuel/
It’s times like this when you want to plot a coup/
Put your hands up and I’ll copy you/
Lyrically, my favorite track was Handlebars, a creative song that subtly breaks down the competitive natures of man, comparing a child bragging about bike riding abilities to leaders bragging about military capabilities. The following verse demonstrates this can-do attitude:
I can make money, open up a thrift store – I can make a living off a magazine/
I can design an engine sixty-four miles to a gallon of gasoline/
I can make new antibiotics/
I can make computers survive aquatic/
Conditions – I know how to run a business/
And I can make you want to buy a product/
Movers, shakers and producers/
Me and my friends understand the future/
I see the strings that control the system/
I can do anything with no assistance/
‘Cause I can lead a nation with a microphone/
And I can split the atom of a molecule/
Several tracks show this same type of lyrical creativity, including the title track Fight With Tools, which breaks down the need for more revolutionary participants in order to change our country, Anne Braden, which contemplates the concept of racism by revisiting the story of a famous fighter for racial equality, and We Are Winning, which uses voice samples to create the effect of a radio broadcast aimed at your mind.
Overall, “Fight With Tools” is an exceptional underground release, but an even stronger indication of the potential of the Flobots. Through conscious lyrics, dope beats based on true instrumentation, and the capability to perform their music for real with a live band, the Flobots should be able to connect with a large and diverse fan base. I highly recommend joining this fan base by picking up a copy of Flobots’ “Fight With Tools.” Peace.
Related:
If you’re in the mood for other deep thinking emcees, check out Wise Intelligent “The Talented Timothy Taylor”, C-Rayz Walz “Chorus Rhyme”, and Sage Francis “Human The Death Dance”.
Album Track Listing:
- There’s a War Going On For Your Mind
- Mayday!
- Same Thing
- Stand Up
- Fight With Tools
- Handlebars
- Never Had It
- Combat
- The Rhythm Method (move!)
- Anne Braden
- We Are Winning
- Rise
Denver’s Flobots « MiS | Moving in Stereo wrote:
[...] and variety of instruments, I turn to the opening paragraph of a review from the online site Hip-Hop Linguistics for a better take than I can provide: Flobots’ “Fight With Tools” is an album that [...]
Posted on 16-Feb-08 at 4:24 am | Permalink
DJ Dartboard wrote:
Truly amazing album. As the hip hop genre progresses groups like Flobots continue to show the world whats its capable of. A unique live style of rock/ska/hiphop that touches upon important wordly issues intelligently and incitefully. They never get preachy in their statements but they are interesting to listen to and pay attention to, I can’t wait for future project from Flobots.
Posted on 15-Mar-08 at 12:24 am | Permalink
dexter wrote:
the artists are most important to hip hop !
what they do for their fans is what counts.
check out like fiddy and his backstage tour channel where he posts live stuff, directly from where he is:
http://www.kyte.tv/ch/18531-50centtour
peace !
Posted on 18-Mar-08 at 7:03 am | Permalink
Xlephier Prime wrote:
this is an awesome album, i’ve gotten like 10 of my friends onto flobots now. they rock!
note: it’s actually a viola, which is like a violin but half an octave lower. it’s less piercing and, in my opinion, a better-sounding and more versatile instrument.
here’s hoping flobots keep up making their awesome music and get heaps more fans!
Posted on 20-Mar-08 at 11:35 pm | Permalink
Senzo wrote:
See this band live. It’s loads of energy, dancing, thinking, emotion, and fun. Great people, too.
Posted on 20-May-08 at 11:06 am | Permalink
Amber wrote:
It’s a Viola, not a violin….but I love your review
Posted on 22-May-08 at 8:22 am | Permalink
Nathaniel wrote:
Thank you Amber and Xlephier for pointing out that the Flobots use a viola – not a violin. Being a hip-hopper, I know a lot about turntables, but obviously very little about classical instruments
Posted on 22-May-08 at 8:53 am | Permalink
RusBot wrote:
Love the Flobots and it’s awesome to see the HipHop community embracing them. They are powerful, amazing, and dead on about the issues. I actually work with them and the Flobots StreetTeam who is now taking action on the issues that are in front of us. Anyone interested in establishing or joining a streetteam in your area should go to flobots.com/community and sign up. It really is about making a difference with this band. As a matter of fact, they have setup a NonProfit as well and are really about making change!
“Put your hands up high if you haven’t abandoned hope that a pen stroke is stronger than a cannon”
Jonny 5 – “Stand Up” from Fight With Tools.
PS: The Platypus EP is amazing too, only released locally but I hear they may re-release it on itunes! hmmm
1LOVE
Rus (Tha Docta)
Posted on 30-May-08 at 7:04 pm | Permalink
flobots lyrics wrote:
[...] music for real with a live band, the flobots should be able to connect with a large and diverse …http://www.hiphoplinguistics.com/reviews/albums/2008/02/flobots-fight-with-tools/trackbackflobots flobots lyrics flobots flobots flobots lyricsHandlebars HANDLEBARS Watch Handlebars flobots [...]
Posted on 01-Jun-08 at 12:41 pm | Permalink
tragnark.com/blog » flowbots mayday: in between the lines wrote:
[...] I feel, satisfies this checklist. Their album, Fight With Tools is a mix between many ideas, and It’s sure to provoke agreements or disagreements on the [...]
Posted on 23-Jul-08 at 2:17 pm | Permalink
Paul wrote:
I don’t see why “Fight with Tools” has been getting some bad reveiws on other sites. i personally love the album.
Posted on 20-Aug-08 at 11:31 am | Permalink