Artist: Flobots
Album: Fight With Tools
Label: Universal Music Canada
Release Date: May 13 2008 

Reviewed by: Tessa Perkins (Vancouver Correspondent - Canada)

With smart, political lyrics, Flobots have put together an album of strikingly profound songs that make you stop and listen. The band is a collaboration of two emcees, a rhythm section, a violinist, and a trumpet player which comes together to create a unique sound. Their songs evoke a positive feeling, and with such a diverse make-up, the band has quickly become very popular. Although they may be classed as a rap group, they are in no way part of the hip-hop scene that creates whole songs based on one word repeated over and over. Unlike most new music acts, these songs are actually worth listening to and this band actually has something important to say.  

I first heard their single "Handlebars" about a month ago while in Quebec. I was driving with my boyfriend and we were having a conversation when the song came on, but we both stopped talking as if there was a mutual understanding that the song we were listening to deserved to be heard with our full attention. The song is full of declarations such as "I can ride a bike with no handlebars" and "I can split the atom of a molecule" that really make you think about all the things we as a human race are actually capable of. After listening to the rest of their album, "Handlebars" stands out as their best song by far, but the others are still full of meaningful lyrics and innovative instrumentation that is worthy of praise.

This is the band's first full-length album, and it is defined as a "rallying cry for all free-thinking individuals fed-up with the violence and apathy that have thus far defined the new millennium." The songs talk about subjects like racism, crime, politics, and violence, but somehow still retain a sense of hope. With their intelligent, anthemic beats, Flobots are truly in position to "lead the nation with a microphone."   
 

1. There's A War Going On For Your Mind
2. Mayday!!!
3. Same Thing
4. Stand Up
5. Fight With Tools
6. Handlebars
7. Never Had It   
8. Combat 
9. The Rhythm Method (Move!)   
10. Anne Braden 
11. We Are Winning 
12. Rise