Review Summary: It's the F-L-O-B-O-T-S, what did you expect?
And now for something completely similar...
The Flobots third major label album, The Circle In The Square is pretty much what one would expect from them. Songs topics include revolution, the Occupy movement, religion, etc. Now, if the listener doesn't want to be bombarded with liberal ideas then they are listening to the wrong band. If you share the same ideology, then The Circle In The Square will most likely be an enjoyable album to listen to.
The musicianship on this album is about the best we have seen from the Flobots yet. The bass lines are good and when mixed with Mackenzie's viola make for some really great beats. The drumming is also spot on. The best example of this may be the song "Sides", where the drums mixed with the vocals really push the song along. All in all, the bass, drums, and viola work together so well that the listener may not even realize whats missing from the equation.
It's kind of weird that not many reviews have even mentioned the absence of not only Andy Guerrero on guitar, but the absence of guitar all together on The Circle In The Square. Guitar has always been the weakest link of the instruments of the Flobots in my opinion, but it still has played a large role in their previous work. Seriously, guitar instructors everywhere could tell you how may hundreds of times they had to play "Handlebars" for their students circa '07. It may not have been technically the greatest guitar line, but it added so much to the song. The acoustic strumming of "Good Soldier", the solid lead on "Never Had It", all a distant memory as the Flobots march on with a new sound, that sounds like their old sound, but repackaged to work without guitar.
Lyrically Johnny 5 and Brer Rabbit are about on par with their previously released work. Both of these guys have good flow but they won't knock your socks off with their lyrics. However, it shouldn't be understated that the lyrics are very good and in certain spots, quite catchy. The title track's chorus for example has been stuck in my head for about a week now. But at least in contrast of say, "handlebars" it doesn't leave me wanting to bash my head against a wall because it is annoyingly catchy.
The Circle In The Square can feel pretty inconsistent as far as songs that may have a shelf life of over a few listens. The album opens up strong enough. "Flokovsky" is the intro/opener and compared to many hip-hop albums it could actually be called a song. The title track is very solid, followed by "Run (Run, Run, Run) which features Mackenzie singing the chorus and some of Johnny 5's and Brer Rabbit's best flows. "Sides" follows that and is a pretty powerful track, definitely one of the Flobots best yet.
Then it starts getting a little weaker. "On Loss and Having" is a so-so song with a chorus made for shock value followed by "Gonna Be Free" which is in my opinion the most catchy track on the album. Brer Rabbit's verse in particular is very good and memorable. So, after what is probably the catchiest track, the Flobots follow it up with what is probably the least catchy track, "One Last Show". "One Last Show" has an old school hip-hop feel to it much like "Contact" on Fight With Tools. It's a fun track to listen to like say, once, but after that it's just kind of, meh.
"Interlude" is pretty much just an opener for one of the better tracks "Wrestling Israel", which has more to do with finding one's own faith rather than what the title may lead you to believe. "Loneliness" is a pretty good track with a hook that will stick in your head but it's not great. The drums are pretty cool on this track as well, nothing special but exactly what the song calls for.
"The Rose and The Thistle" will be a song that fan's of Mackenzie will like but other than that leaves much to be desired. "Occupy Earth" is up next and is a good song, not great, just good, but definitely not bad. "Journey After (War Fatigues)" is slower tune that is O.K. but also has one of the most memorable performances from Johnny and Brer as on the last verse they both spit at the same time, playing off each others flow, hitting the same words at the same time, creating a dynamic not seen yet by the Flobots. It's one of the best parts of the album on a song that is somewhat forgettable.
"Stop The Apocalypse" is the last real song on the album. Originally Stop the Apocalypse is what the album was supposed to be titled but was changed late in the album making process to The Circle In The Square. "Stop the Apocalypse" is another so-so track, it's not bad but not very memorable. The last track doesn't really have a name and it's pretty much an instrumental with a little bit of joking around at the beginning.
And so that's how the album ends. The listener is left wondering what they just listened to, which is pretty much a metaphor for the entire album. The listener is left wondering just where the Flobots are going from here. Getting guitar back in the mix may be what the Flobots need, but other than that it seems like the Flobots have pretty much created a formula they are comfortable sticking with. The results are a little hit and miss but it still makes for a solid album that actually has something to say, whether you agree with it or not.
