Fight With Tools

There are two ways for a new band to find an audience: To adhere strictly to the preconceived rules of a certain genre, or to refuse rules altogether. On Fight With Tools Flobots take the latter route. The album is led by the unlikely breakout single “Handlebars,” which is a built on a tense beat punctuated by plucked violin and mournful trombone. The song begins with lead vocalist/rapper Jamie Laurie quietly repeating the phrase “I can ride my bike with no handlebars”; by the end of the song he’s screaming “I can end the planet in a holocaust.” Between those two planes exists the remainder of Fight With Tools, which does an impressive job of encompassing the conflicting moods of the modern world, from benignity and numbness to passion and rage. Flobots wisely hide their most fiery messages within their most catchy songs, including “Rise,” “Same Thing” and “Stand Up.” Few groups are as good at synthesizing as many divergent ideas, which is what makes Fight With Tools truthful. The world is as confusing as it is miraculous, and this album is an accurate reflection of our present, information-saturated reality.