''Fight with Tools'' is the debut album by

Flobots Flobots is an experimental rap rock band from Denver, Colorado, formed in 2005 by Jamie Laurie. The band's origins date back 5 years earlier to a similar project by Laurie. Flobots found mainstream success with their major label debut ''Fight ...

, originally released in October 2007 and re-released on May 20, 2008. The album was recorded in 2007 around the band's home state of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. ''Fight with Tools'' received a mildly positive reception from critics who praised the production and serious subject matter. The album features the single " Handlebars" which became a popular hit on Modern Rock radio the following April, also becoming a popular hit in the UK (#14), New Zealand (#26) and Canada (#63). The album also features the single "

Rise Rise or RISE may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * '' Rise: The Vieneo Province'', an internet-based virtual world * Rise FM, a fictional radio station in the video game ''Grand Theft Auto 3'' * Rise Kujikawa, a vide ...

" which also became a popular hit on Modern Rock radio after its release. In the week of June 7, 2008, the album jumped on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart 168 places and peaked at number 15, selling over 265,000 copies. The album also peaked at number 52 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

Critical reception

''Fight with Tools'' garnered a mildly positive reception from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

who praised the production and attention to political topics. Steve 'Flash' Juon of ''RapReviews'' praised the album for its use of live instrumentation and the lyrical delivery of both Jonny 5 and Brer Rabbit, concluding with, "The versatility of the Flobots sound makes them very hard to pin down, but it also makes for an entertaining musical journey that doesn't get bogged down by their politics or a preachy didactic presentation."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

's David Jeffries also complimented the band for having the ambition to tackle various political messages while backed with a live orchestra, saying that "Good points are made with skill and fine wordplay, the guitars and drums crunch along driving home the message with head-bobbing grooves, and the album opens up with the marvelous "Handlebars," a carefully crafted, slowly building tale of the ego run wild via some beautiful muted trumpet." James Greene, Jr. of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' criticized the album for failing to recapture what

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commer ...

brought before and for being preachy in its political messages, saying that "At the end of the day, Flobots and their sophomore effort can be summed up by the album’s third track, "Same Thing". As the chorus demonstrates, they’re just saying the same things over again, giving us the same revolutionary slogans anti-establishment forces have been shouting in the face of 'The Man' for years: "We want money for healthcare and public welfare / free

Mumia Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook; April 24, 1954) is an American political activist and journalist who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1982 for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia Police Department, Philadelphia police officer C ...

and

Leonard Peltier Leonard Peltier (born September 12, 1944) is a Native American activist and militant member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) who, following a controversial trial, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of two Fe ...

!"" The track ¨The Rhythm Method (Move!)¨ is known for being one of the very few hip-hop songs in an odd-time signature, being in 7/8.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted credits from the ''Fight with Tools'' booklet. ;Flobots * 0. Brer Rabbit – rapping vocals * 5. Jonny 5 – rapping vocals * 17. Andy Guerrero –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, additional vocals * 33. Mackenzie Roberts –

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

, vocals * 69. Kenny O. – drums * 101. Jesse Walker – bass ;Additional musicians * Joe Ferrone –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

(tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 7) * Mariel Roberts –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

(tracks 1, 4, 5, 11, 12) * Minnie Baldwin – vocals (track 11) * Ravi Zupa – sample (track 9) * Dr. Vincent Harding and the Veterans of Hope Project – samples (track 10) ;Production * Flobots – production * Kyle Jones – mixing, mastering ;Artwork * Jonathan Till – art and design * Matt Walker –

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 2007 debut albums Flobots albums Universal Republic Records albums