Flobots

[Ronne]

Playing at Subterranean June 1st, hells yes.

[ValkyrieIsAboutToDie]

Commercials are airing for these guys. Pretty sweet.

[Ripe]

First impression is that they are very preachy about hip vague generalized ideals.

Pretty good sound though.

[Nakilos]

First impression is that they are very preachy about hip vague generalized ideals.

Pretty good sound though.

I pretty much had the same feeling when I listened to the whole album. However, it's consistent. I get really annoyed when musicians try to insert some really overt message and beat you over the head with it in a couple of songs, or they have that ONE song which is painfully obvious commentary about the war, republicans, whatever talking point feel like tossing in, and while it can be excessive here, it comes off as less....I don't know. It FEELS like they want to say something, so I guess I appreciate the effort on that end.

That being said, people who actually play instruments is always nice, there is actually good lyrical content in some of the songs. The only other stand out that I recall was the song after Handlebars, Never Had It. The horns are great.

To me its really refreshing to actually hear this genre get actual instrumentation. I think I'll like the album more as I listen to it more.

[brekk]

For those that like this another good similar group is Sweatshop Union. A little more production and not quite so minimalist, but in the same genre of more thoughful lyrics.

[Nakilos]

I'm not seeing how they are related at all. One actually plays instruments, the other sounds like pretty much every other rap ever made.

[Intrinsic]

Odd, they've been playing this song during commercial breaks on The Herd for a while now. Just assumed it was old and never went anywhere so I didn't pay much attention to looking for the rest of the album. Guess I will now.

[Eomer]

I'm not seeing how they are related at all. One actually plays instruments, the other sounds like pretty much every other rap ever made.

It's more that Sweatshop Union has extremely good, socially/politically/societally conscious lyrics than their sound. I don't like much rap at all, but I love Sweatshop. For example:

Originally Posted by The Thing About It

This is a time of growth for those that know,
And it's a time of hope for those that don't,
But if your mind is open you'll get shown,

We've had our sights blinded, all of my like-minded,
People need to get up and discover the right time is,
Now, so start opposing the powers that arose,
In ancient days and paved the way to this load,
It's so controlled, it's sitting in most, just sit and stare,
At a television with a distant glare,
And I'm ashamed to admit it, I'm a slave to this shit,
As much as anybody but I'm not afraid of it,
This is where the change comes, and this is where we make some difference,
Embrace what's within us and escape from this prison,
All it takes is a little bit of faith,
And a little bit of love, to get rid of all the hate,

Chorus:
But the thing about it is we can't just sing about it,
We can't just sit around and wait until they thin us out,
We figure out where we're going while we live in doubt,
If you want my truth, listen now and just think about it,
The thing about it is we can't even think about it,
Can't afford a minutes time to figure how to bring about a change,
So, take a second, and shake your head,
And take a step ahead and think about it,

Now the ball is in our court, while we sit and watch passively,
The face of the earth changes drastically, after we,
Clear space at this rate for strip malls and factories,
We risk take a crew fate at a pace beyond gradually,
No more crops for us to harvest and feed,
Self-sufficiency replaced by clone-copy written seeds,
Now ask yourself, how can we be free,
When the water that we drink is owned by some company,

I hear the weep up the streets, and cries up in the skies,
The weakness is disguised with deceitful lies,
Well we all eat to survive, and sleep through our lives,
Repeat in for high, all shit and no pride,
Never speak of our lie, let the fear fortify,
My insides are dying, trying to fit in the design,
I'm reminded daily, of a world gone crazy,
Guns mean safety for orphan babies,
Ignore the distortion you're forced to perceive and believe,
What supercedes is love, but who agrees?

But the thing about it is we can't just sing about it,
We can't just sit around and wait until they thin us out,
We figure out where we're going while we live in doubt,
If you want my truth, listen now and just think about it,
The thing about it is we can't even think about it,
Can't afford a minutes time to figure how to bring about a change,
So, take a second, and shake your head,
And take a step ahead and think about it,

Could you survive in the wild, with a wife and a child,
A whole human history, a line a type and a file,
So live your life in denial, or try to live on your own,
Without your colour TV, heat, fridge or the phone,
Well the average guy lives an elaborate lie,
Waste days on slave wage beneath the passionate eye,
Now we ovulate, copulate and over-populate,
Never stop to think about the things that we were taught to hate,
Now the stage is set, watch the players place their bets,
Take a sec, shake your head, feel alive, make you sweat,
Realize that the system can't exist without belief,
Appreciate your true potential, untwist your mouth and speak,
We're working on building a world our children can live in,
Understand, I can't be free, while you're still in this prison,
And I could spend my days preaching, so on and so forth,
But it won't change, until we don't want to go on, no more,

But the thing about it is we can't just sing about it,
We can't just sit around and wait until they thin us out,
We figure out where we're going while we live in doubt,
If you want my truth, listen now and just think about it,
The thing about it is we can't even think about it,
Can't afford a minutes time to figure how to bring about a change,
So, take a second, and shake your head,
And take a step ahead and think about it,

But the thing about it is we can't just sing about it,
We can't just sit around and wait until they thin us out,
We figure out where we're going while we live in doubt,
If you want my truth, listen now and just think about it,
The thing about it is we can't even think about it,
Can't afford a minutes time to figure how to bring about a change,
So, take a second, and shake your head,
And take a step ahead and think about it,

This is a time of growth for those that know,
And it's a time of hope for those that don't,
But if your mind is open you'll get shown.

Download the song, it's fantastic. Err actually here: YouTube - Sweatshop Union - Thing About It

I've never had a problem with rap or hip hop musically, but I just can't relate to the vast, vast majority of it because it's so fucking negative in almost every respect, whether it be mysogyny, greed, racism, thug life, whatever. It's nice when groups or individuals come along that break the mould, and Sweatshop Union is definitely one of those groups. But they'll forever be written off as some group of white boys from Victoria/Van by the mainstream hiphop and rap establishment.

[Nakilos]

Ok, I listened to it and I think they do have interesting lyrical content. The problem for me with most rap is there is no real musicianship. No one plays instruments, and that makes a lot of rap really uninteresting to me personally. To me this is the stand out with the band, in addition to having interesting lyrical content. I mean maybe I'm the weird one, to me its refreshing to actually hear things like horns and violins instead of a repetitive looped track beat in the background. There are actual dynamics to the songs.

I think what would probably make Sweatshop Union end up in the background is they don't do anything different musically. I think for a lot of people, sounding good/unique > substantial lyrical content. Not in every case, but the simple rule is if it sounds good, people will should like it and will buy it. Something like the group you are suggesting you actually have to make an active effort to listen to the lyrics of the songs, otherwise it doesn't sound any different than pretty much any rapper out there.

[Tristinn]

As much as I like listening to these guys.. a lot of the time it just makes me pine for a new Cake album.

[Nakilos]

I don't really get the Cake comparisons. Maybe the horns I guess? Otherwise Cake always struck me as really campy/fun, which is fine and all. I'm just not seeing the similarities beyond the inclusion of horns.

[Nakilos]

Slight side comment, they are coming to Milwaukee this Saturday and from what I can see I can still get tickets. It's only $10, but should I bother? I'm just curious whether they ACTUALLY sound good live, or whether some production quality has made the songs decent.

[Vatoreus]

You can watch some of the live stuff off of Youtube and decide yourself I guess, I found them to be pretty good from what I saw.

[Dirus]

Originally Posted by Nakilos

Slight side comment, they are coming to Milwaukee this Saturday and from what I can see I can still get tickets. It's only $10, but should I bother? I'm just curious whether they ACTUALLY sound good live, or whether some production quality has made the songs decent.

I have seen them live 3 times (small venues around Denver) and they are amazing. Far better live than recorded IMO. Part of it comes from the high energy crowds in Denver that really know these guys, but Im sure it will transfer well to the larger. They are really entertaining and high energy in person.

[Tristinn]

The guys voice in handlebars is almost a spot-on imitation of John McCrea. The horns just take it to the limit.