Flobots 'Handlebars'

Chart Peak: 14
YouTube

Flobots are "a rip-roaring six-member musical force" from Denver, Colorado, originally formed in 2005 by founding band members Jonny 5 and Brer Rabbit... Their debut single 'Handlebars' reached No. 14 in the UK charts in September 2008

Apparently the members of Flobots had some quite high-minded intent behind the writing of this song - what sounds like a song boasting about cycling prowess is somehow supposed to be about ambitions and militarism. To be fair, you can kind of hear that when you're looking for it, as the increasingly shouty vocals at the end seem to proclaim power over life and death itself. But the idea is a bit too hazy to carry the song and musically there just isn't enough going on, just a vague acoustic jangle and some quite slow rapping. It would have worked better if they'd sped up the pace during the song. Apparently there have been two more Flobots albums since this but few seem to have noticed on these shores (the last one made it 198 on the US chart). A song that has some of the features of songs I like, but not the good ones.

Available on: Handlebars (single)