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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Flobots

  • Have Your Cake & Listen To It Too

    So me and fellow MHW staffer Paul have had a friendly debate about Flobots that has lasted for about a week. At one point, he compared the ‘Bots to Cake, and that’s when my “oh no he diiiint” antenna went up. I kid slightly, of course, but I don’t really see a comparison between the two, specifically seeing as how Cake has been one of my favorite bands for the past decade or so and after one listen of Flobots’ “Handlebars” I wish to never hear that band again.

    Anyhow, those of you familiar with Cake probably think of them as a joke band, or a novelty band. There’s certainly something about John McCrea’s deadpan, almost-spoken lyrics and the periodic trumpet solos that lends creedence to that. However, the band’s had a much longer string of hits than any “novelty” act can boast, including “The Distance”, “No Phone”, “Never There” and the awesome “Short Skirt/Long Jacket”. Furthermore, the band’s actually an extremely tight instrumental unit, rocking efficiently and intelligently. And while some of their music is played for laughs, it’s with a dry and sarcastic humor far beyond anything the Flobots could potentially come up with. OK, Paul, I’ll stop now 🙂

    I actually got to see Cake live at a radio station gig a couple weeks ago (where they performed on the same bill as Cracker…that’s a joke within itself). Although McCrea’s asides proved that he’s not wrapped too tight, they put on a tight show. I’m definitely looking forward to their new album, scheduled for release later this year. Meanwhile, I leave you with the uproarious video for “Short Skirt/Long Jacket”…

    …Well, I was going to…but, again, I can’t find a version that’s embeddable. So, even better, here’s the video for their awesome cover of “I Will Survive”. Enjoy.

  • Contender For Worst Song of 2008?: Flobots’ "Handlebars"

    How do I know I’m getting old? Because I constantly get the feeling that music today is infinitely worse than it was when I was a kid. I mean I came up in the era of Paula Abdul, C&C Music Factory and MC Hammer, but while I’ll be the first to tell you that none of that music was incredibly substantial, I’ll also tell you that most late 80s/early 90s pop music has at least some sort of hookiness and pop smarts that justifies the success it had.

    So, I’m out of touch. Whereas you could sit me down with any Top 10 list from 1980-2000 and I’d be able to at least sing the chorus of every song back to you, there’s songs in the Top 10 now that I barely even recognize. Hell, Lil’ Wayne’s “Lollipop” has been the #1 song in the country for four weeks now and I’ve heard it all the way through a grand total of ONCE.

    That doesn’t mean that I’m not interested in today’s music, and when I get wind of a new band that’s making waves, I try to give them a listen to see what they’re about. Sometimes we come up with a winner (Vampire Weekend, The Fray), sometimes we come up with what we think is a winner that later turns out to be something else entirely (Colbie Caillat), and other times, we come up with foul pieces of horse doody.

    Ladies and gentlemen, I now present you with Flobots. By the way, this isn’t the official video, but I couldn’t find a version on YouTube that contained embeddable code. So you’ll just have to suffer through this…if you dare.

    While it’s nice to see at least someone nowadays with a social conscience, this song is so terrible that any redeeming quality in the lyrical content is completely wiped away. First of all, guys, rap/rock died out about 7 or 8 years ago. Isn’t Fred Durst in the witness protection program or something? Not to mention the fact that these guys have the stiffest, most wooden rap flow of anyone I’ve ever heard before in my life. And I sat through the entirety of Kevin Federline’s album! (it’s not something I’m proud of).

    Anyway, what do you think of the song? I think Linkin Park are rolling in their graves whenever this song comes on-and they’re not even dead.