On Survival Story, the follow-up to Flobots' 2008 major label debut Fight With Tools, the band expands on their P.O.D.-flavored political hip-hop rock. After violinist Mackenzie Roberts joined the group in 2006, the group's sound has become progressively more reliant on dissonance. Whereas songs like “Handlebars” found a happy medium between overt political agendas and rhythm, Survival Story finds MC’s Jonny 5 and Brer Rabbit struggling to find their flow over a cacophony of heavy drums and gritty guitar licks.

Flobots has always been a band in transition, and after seemingly discovering their sound before the release of their last album, they have strayed from the music and fallen too far into the message. Sonically, Survival Story avoids boosting production by welcoming a harder rock sound, which leaves the listener in a state of confusion on songs like “Cracks In the Surface” and “By The Time You Get This Message.” When the band takes its time to craft melodies instead of forcing overly political rhyme schemes into spaces where they awkwardly fit, the result is a balanced marriage of genres like on “Whip$ and Chain$”.

01. Cracks In The Surface 2:55
02. The Effect 4:27
03. Defend Atlantis 5:02
04. If I 3:43
05. White Flag Warrior (Feat. Tim McIlrath Of Rise Against) 3:41
06. By The Time You Get This Message 5:37
07. Airplane Mode 5:42
08. Whip$ & Chain$ 3:56
09. Good Soldier 4:06
10. Superhero 3:21
11. Infatuation (Feat. Matt Morris) 4:26
12. Panacea For The Poison 4:05