BY JAMIE DAVIS OK folks, let’s face it.  The Flobots are, and probably always will be, a one-hit wonder.  Just start singing “I can ride my bike with no handlebars…” and see how many people around you join in with “…no handlebars, no handlebars.”  However, don’t get the wrong idea from any of this, that is in anyway a bad thing.  The Flobots have plenty of good tunes, just  only a single radio-friendly one.  They should have been a no-hit wonder band, with massive amounts of underground cred for their firmly felt political message, instead of known only for, as far as I can tell, a song with completely non-sensical lyrics that are set to some fantastic music.  However, the highlight of their show at The Troc on Monday night was absolutely the moment when that familiar plucked-violin riff came in, and every face in the room lit up and chanted “no handlebars, no handlebars,” eventually climaxing in screaming the bit: “IN A HOLOCAUST IN, A HOLOCAUST, IN A HOLOCAUUUUUST!”  Every nerve in my body shivered.  But like I said, not nearly the only great moment.  The black rapper (I don’t know their names, and so will name them only by the color of their skin, which I’m sure is injustice enough for them to write a crackin song about, but I think it’s funnier this way) busted out some great robot-dance moves during “Rise,” and of course good oldies like “Mayday” and “Rise” stood up with the newer tunes, all still in the same vein. The band were high-energy throughout, and White Rapper (real name Johnny 5, just went and looked it up.  Black Rapper is apparently named Brer Rabbit) had the same sort of haunted look in his eyes Vigo Mortensen had in “A History of Violence,” which lent believability to his edgier lyrics. Opening act Champagne Champagne (CHAMPAGNE CHAMPAGNE! –If you were there you would get it.)  were absolutely brilliant, and I encourage you all to check them out right now, (in fact ed. please insert some sort of myspace link here) I even bought their 7” “Magnetic Blackness.”  The second act K-OS, were just really bad.  I won’t soften the blow, they sucked.  Other than that it was a fantastic, socially conscious night.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jamie Davis is a senior at Kimberton Waldorf High School.  He enjoys Blink-182 more than any Thom Yorke fan should.

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