Flobots w/ Trouble Andrew and Champagne Champagne

In a bid for post-rap-rock relevance, Linkin Park downplayed the role of rapper Mike Shinoda on its most recent album. A year later, however, Denver’s alternative-rap band Flobots stormed modern-rock radio playlists by doing just the opposite, delivering “Handlebars,” a single built around monotone, Shinoda-esque raps. Nobody will mistake the Flobots emcees as the next coming of Rakimif anything, their flat verses evoke Cake’s John McCreabut unlike so many alternative-rock bands that play hip-hop for novelty, at least they seem to have a genuine love for the genre to complement their incisive hooks. The group returns to the Rave tonight, touring behind its latest album, Survival Story, which they recorded with Beastie Boys producer Mario Caldato, Jr..