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Swedish garage band widens musical scope on fourth album, but it's still fun
By Malcolm X Abram
Beacon Journal music writer
Published on Sunday, Dec 02, 2007
The Hives came thundering out of Sweden with their two-tone outfits, their taut sub-three-minute punky/garage rock tunes, unbridled energy, rock-star attitude and a (presumably) invented Svengali, Randy Fitzsimmons, who ''writes'' all their songs.
Though they had been recording for nearly a decade, their rise in profile fortuitously coincided with the garage rock revival that helped bands like the White Stripes, and anyone else who came out of Detroit in the early '90s, gain immediate hipster cred and attention.
The hype machine has moved on to someone else, but the Hives' fourth full-length disc, The Black and White Album, finds the band still able to churn out fun, fast and furious rave-ups. All the familiar benchmark flavors of the band's previous work can be heard, from lead sing/shouter Pelle Almqvist's energetic mushmouthed phrasing that recalls Iggy Pop and the New York Dolls David Johansen, to the riffs and grooves influenced by the Stooges, early Stones and Nuggets compilations.
But they've also widened their musical scope a bit, beginning with Almqvist's singing, which on previous recordings usually hinted at a melody rather than actually bothering to sing one. On this album Almqvist not only sings melodies, but actually digs down in his lower register to croon a bit.
The band enlisted well-known producers Dennis Herring (Camper Van Beethoven, Elvis Costello, Buddy Guy) for a number of tracks, as well as Garrett ''Jacknife'' Lee (U2, Bloc Party) and the famous half of the Neptunes, Pharrell Williams, who contributes to two tracks. The new elements don't always gel, but spread across the disc's 45 minutes (that's double-album length for the Hives), they manage to make The Black and White Album sound ambitious without losing its way.
The album begins by giving fans exactly what they want. The lead track and single (and commercial jingle) Tick Tick Boom is a catchy three-minute, three-chord hip shaker, followed by the dismissive, caffeinated You Got It All . . . Wrong and Well All Right! with its bouncy rhythm and gangbang shouts of ''Whoo-Hoo!'' that will make the Pharrell-produced track a guaranteed concert sing-along.
After the business-as-usual of the first five tunes, a short instrumental with sparse B-grade horror movie organ announces the album's wild cards, which add dance rock to the Hives' repertoire.
Pharrell turns up behind the boards for the band's presumed theme song T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S., a straight chunk of self-aggrandizing funk, featuring a pure disco bridge and Almqvist trying out his falsetto while explaining the excitement of attending a Hives show.
The remainder of the album switches between the familiar punk of the Ramones-flavored Return the Favour, Square One Here I Come and the album-closing Bigger Hole to Fill with oddities such as the lock-step Kurt Weill-esque piano and percussion of Puppet on a String.
The Hives' basic sound and look was fully formed by the time most of the world actually heard them, and chances are the bulk of their fans don't want the band to stretch out too far from the blueprint. But The Black and White Album's sonic diversions are mostly fun, and though they may not immediately fit in with the band's music, they do fit into its carefully cultivated image.
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758.
The Hives came thundering out of Sweden with their two-tone outfits, their taut sub-three-minute punky/garage rock tunes, unbridled energy, rock-star attitude and a (presumably) invented Svengali, Randy Fitzsimmons, who ''writes'' all their songs.
Get the full article here.
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