The Hives, the Black and White Album 2007
Okay, so the Hives are what they are and this album will not come as much of a surprise if you know what you’re in for. When Veni Vedi Vicious was released everyone was ready for rock and roll to be revived by the salvation of the “The” bands and the Hives were quick to be lumped in with the Strokes, the Vines, and the White Stripes differences in style be damned. It was revivalism that pop music was after and each band was ready to supply heaps of it but the ability to mature has been what has kept the early-2000 groups alive.
Tyrannosaurus Hives didn’t really reinvent the wheel but it set the stage for how the Hives were to keep things fresh. Aside from aping the Stooges and the Stones the stylish Swedes supplied something else that is just as valuable in quality pop – they knew how to write a ridiculously catchy single. The production on The Black and White Album gets even slicker this time around with the help of N.E.R.D’s own Pharrell Williams (check out the stupid sexy and completely humbly titled track, T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S) but this is not to suggest that style has completely replaced the hooks that make the songs worthwhile.
This is a straightforward album and rather than lean on the short, punchy punk of previous albums the Hives decide to roll more than they rock on tracks like the infectious “It Won’t Be Long” and first single, “Tick Tick Boom”. There is substance enough in the long run though and a definite sense of maturation in the more experimental cuts (the instrumental “A Stroll through Hive Manor” or “Puppet on a String”). The Black and White Album does more of what the Hives have produced before but seems to be more concerned with mass-appeal than ever before. None of the tongue-in-cheek posturing is dismissed here however but is instead amplified. Whether this is for better or worse is pretty subjective. There is certainly enough by way of quality, simplistic punk out there in other bands and it’s much better to see a good band grow up rather than live in constant artistic childhood.
It’s definitely worth a listen.
December 10, 2007
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