Album Review: Flobots second effort falls short

Alternative hip-hop group The Flobots, best known for their 2008 hit-single "Handlebars," have unfortunately fallen victim to the sophomore slump. The group's latest effort, Survival Story, is a surprisingly dull album.

The instrumentation for the band has remained the same, their sound has been altered slightly. On the groups last album; they introduced the world to their unique blend of hip-hop with guitar, drums, bass and violin supplying the beats.

For this album, the band went with more of a rock sound while still trying to keep the hip-hop elements. So while emcees Jonny 5 and Brer Rabbit still sing the songs with a hip-hop feel, the rest of the band plays with more of a rock feel. This in turn gives the album a Linkin Park nu-metal sound.

To try and counteract this, the group uses a lot more of their violinist, Mackenzie Roberts. He appears on every song and for the most part the band uses her very well. She adds a more symphonic feel to the songs. However, sometimes there are lines she plays on the violin that could have been played on guitar, which makes it feel like the group only used her to make the songs sound more original.

However, the change in sound isn't the main problem for this album. The main problem is that it's just boring. The songs on this album go on way longer than they need to. The album also doesn't have a song on it as catchy or memorable as "Handlebars."

There is some good on this album though. The best tracks on it are the ones that have more of the hip-hop feel to them such as "The Effect," and the fact that the group hasn't lost their knack for politically themed lyrics.

In total, while still listenable, Survival Story is an extremely disappointing second effort. Even though the group hasn't drastically altered their sound, it may turn off fans that fell in love with the group's first album. Try listening to a couple of tracks before running out and buying the album.