Fifteen years ago, Denver indie rap group Flobots introduced itself to the world with Flobots Present: Platypus. On Friday, October 23, the band will release a remixed and remastered version of its debut EP on all major streaming services. The EP includes the first iteration of Flobots' best-known song, “Handlebars,” which fans would sing along with at concerts even before it was re-recorded and re-released on Fight With Tools two years later as part of a deal with Universal Republic Records. The song went on to be a Top 40 radio hit.
About four years after the release of Fight With Tools, guitarist Andy “Rok” Guerrero parted ways with the group, but he reunited with the original members two years ago when they performed at the tenth anniversary of Youth on Record, the nonprofit that Flobots started as Flobots.org. That show helped Guerrero “mend fences” with Flobots MCs Jamie "Jonny 5" Laurie and recently appointed Colorado Music Ambassador Stephen "Brer Rabbit" Brackett.
Guerrero says that in late 2019, he and other bandmembers started talking about the guitarist rejoining Flobots. “I just thought that with the 2020 election coming up, it was like, if there's ever a time for us to try to put out some new music or do something or be effective, 2020 seems like the year to do this,” Guerrero says.