Flobots debut “White Flag Warrior” video
Flobots made a huge splash back in early 2008 when their song “Handlebars” blew up on the radio. Truthfully, it was a really great song that was different than anything else being played on the radio. It got me interested enough to check out their first album, Fight With Tools, but I came away totally unimpressed.
Jonny 5 and Brer Rabbit, the two vocalists, just didn’t have consistent flow in their rhymes. Sometimes they would hit a nice groove and other times it just sounded like they were struggling to get through the song. And since neither one has a strong enough singing voice, this group depends on the music being created behind them – which unfortunately was usually lackluster.
Tangentially, can anyone explain to me the violinist girl’s role in this band? She does the same damn thing on every single song. 1) Play a short intro and/or transition, 2) do some finger-plucking, 3) stand in place and sway. Honestly, she must be really good friends with one of the other band members to have locked down that cherry gig.
Anyways, the group is back with a new album, Survival Story, which they released this week. I gave it a quick listen on their Myspace page, but it probably says something that the only song that I even vaguely remembered was the lead single, “White Flag Warrior.” And I mostly remembered it for the guest appearance by Tim McIlrath, who sings a really catchy chorus.
So am I just missing something about these guys or are they as bland as they come across?
Here’s the new video for “White Flag Warrior”:
http://www.vimeo.com/10068800-Sam
You’re missing something.
Well, thanks for enlightening me on what that might be.
Overall the CD was a little bit overproduced, thanks to Mario Caldato, Jr. But overall I think there were some pretty good beats on Survival Story. And the girl has a pretty good voice, but isn’t used very much. Never Had It off Fight With Tools, and Good Soldier off Survival Story is where she shines the most. I think lyricism went a little downhill to more radio friendly sound to sell, but still decent.