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The Hives are back with their seventh record. That’s not a lot for a band that’s been around since the beginning of the internet, but quality control is paramount with this outfit. Recorded with jackhammer intensity with a little help from ex-Beastie Boy Mike D and handsome scoundrel Josh Homme, The Hives Forever Forever The Hives is vibrant, loud and sure to destroy dance floors worldwide.
For the pundits among us who might complain that all the songs sound the same, this one’s got surprising dips into everything from surf-punk to blissed-out reggae. Just kidding. They do all sound the same. Thank Christ. The Hives remain rooted in the Scandinavian action-rock/ garage-punk wave of the late 90s, when boy bands and nu metal ruled the airwaves and arenas.
Thoroughly rejecting modernity, The Hives brought 60s caveman fuzz and 70s punk snarls back to life in a flurry of two-minute hits and snazzy suits. And they did it better than anyone else. So sure, Enough Is Enough, Born A Rebel and the victorious war chant of the title track all sound like they coulda been on 2000’s Veni Vidi Vicious. They’re supposed to. Bad Call is a high-stepping head bopper that sounds like Bon Scott-era AC/DC, Legalize Living throws in a spaghetti western riff or two, Hooray Hooray Hooray sounds like Ghost taking a shot at a Supersuckers vibe.
Lyrically, it’s either good times or bad times. OCDOD is all Stooges deathtrip (‘Can’t call God on the phone, I feel so all alone’) and Enough Is Enough is your standard cancel-culture lament (‘Everyone’s a little fuckin’ bitch’). But then two minutes later it’s ‘I wanna welcome everybody to the good ol’ days’ (Roll Out The Red Carpet), so everything basically works out.
Listen, how many new albums are really a joy to listen to? How much of classic rock fandom these days is just loyalty to your youth? They all let you down, man. Everybody got old and weak, sapped of the unholy spark that got this ruckus going in the first place.
Not The Hives, though. They make records. They tour until their personal lives are a shambles of divorce and financial ruin. Then they do it again. This is it, man. Nobody’s (that) old. Nobody’s dead. Every track is a hit single waiting to happen. This isn’t about nostalgia, it’s about sweat and rock’n’roll glory. Let us rejoice while we still can.
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