The Hives deliver more cruise missiles

Longer-length album provides no shortage of classic Hives moments.

By Patrick Daugherty

Published Nov. 30, 2007

A new Hives album is not the kind of thing you'd think would take three years to make. But here we are in 2007, three years since we last saw the world's self-proclaimed greatest rock 'n' roll band. 2004's Tyrannosaurus Hives was an all-out sonic assault that clocked in at barely 30 minutes. The menace was in the precision, and the band sounded more like five pre-programmed robots mashing their instruments as hard as possible than five sweaty Swedish dudes.

By and large, they keep that mentality on The Black and White Album. But a quick look at the peripherals show a few major changes. Most obviously, the album's 14 tracks clock in at an absolutely staggering average length of 3 minutes, 3 seconds. By contrast, Tyrannosaurus Hives' 12 songs averaged 2:30.

Then comes the production. Among the myriad of producers used is Pharrell, who attempts to funkify the typically titled Hives track "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S." This might have been more shocking had the band not already worked with Timbaland earlier this year (sadly they weren't the ones chosen for "Apologize"), but still, Hives working with Pharrell? The pairing is mostly a disaster, but still, they get an A for effort.

Finally, there is even an instrumental "A Stroll Through Hive Manor Corridors."

So the inevitable tinkering with The Hives blow-shit-up-and-sing-about-robots formula has occurred. Has it hurt them?

Well, they put this fear to bed rather quickly by calling the album's first song and single "Tick Tick Boom," which is a song about ... blowing shit up and, from what I can tell, robots. Although not as killer or instantly memorable as past Hives singles such as "Hate To Say I Told You So" or "Walk Idiot Walk," it still packs a bigger, more un-ironic wallop than anything else on rock radio circa 2007.

And there is no shortage of other vintage Hives moments. "Try It Again" is the band at its most Hives-y. Guitars as precise as intercontinental ballistic missiles and pierce the ears in perfect metric time as frontman Howlin' Pelle chastises his enemies and extols his own virtues. This being their "growth" album, there is "Hollaback Girl"-style background chanting, but it does little to distract from the plot.

"Well All Right!" pulls The Hives' concert trick of stopping on a dime and changing the song's direction. The change-up isn't that great, but in less than 30 seconds, they are back in attack mode.

"Hey Little World" is another band's crack at a '70s-era cop theme, and it exudes a dirty, we-know-something-you-don't-know vibe that The Hives can pull off in their sleep.

The album's longer length does give the band more time than before to be grating. "Giddy Up!," a slower number with a harmonized, synthesized chant of "Giddy up!" might be one the more unbearable songs of the year, and the aforementioned "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S." sounds like one of the lamer soundcheck jams you will ever hear.

But they are only minor hiccups. You get everything you'd expect from a Hives album, and isn't that really all anyone wants from Howlin' Pelle and co.? There are some bands who need collaborations with the moment's hot hit-makers and constant growth to stay interesting, but The Hives need no gimmicks or guest stars to prop their songs up. They're already pretty good at this blowing-shit-up thing.