After eleven years, a new studio album from The Hives, which is reminiscent of the wild years of the Swedish cult band. Frontman Pelle Almqvist on coming of age, rock ‘n’ roll feelings and a “weird device” heard on the album.
The Hives are unrecognizable in the video for their new single “Countdown To Shutdown”. The Swedish rock band’s musicians are portrayed by actors in their 60s. In fact, frontman Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist is only 45, his brother and Hives guitarist Nicholaus Arson is a year older. And on their sixth album “The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons”, the Swedes, who became famous around the turn of the millennium with their stirring garage rock and sweaty stage shows, sound not the least bit aged and unmistakably like The Hives.
That’s amazing because eleven years have passed since the last album “Lex Hives”. “It’s been pretty bad the last few years,” says frontman Pelle Almqvist jokingly in an interview with the German Press Agency in London. “It wasn’t fun being a member of the Hives. I mean, it was fun too. I love this band and I love being a part of it. But it’s not fun when you’re in a band and doesn’t put out an album.”
New songs found in Randy’s grave
The pandemic played a role, says Almqvist. The Hives keep telling a silly story about the disappearance and supposed death of (fictional) band founder Randy Fitzsimmons on the occasion of the release. Hence the album title. It was “a shock” for the band. However, instead of a corpse, they found a bunch of new songs in Randy’s grave.
In line with the story, the Hives shot a bloody horror video for their first single “Bogus Operandi” with director Aube Perrie. The ingenious punk rock hit is probably the most distinctive Hives song for around 20 years. The next catchy tune followed with the similarly cleverly titled “Countdown To Shutdown”.
They’re fans of the Hives themselves
As if The Hives wanted to show they’re still energetic after almost 25 years, they hit the gas with “Trapdoor Solution”, “Smoke & Mirrors” and the boogie-inspired “Crash Into The Weekend”. “It’s not really about proving anything,” Almqvist clarifies. “We want to make music that we enjoy. In a way, we’re fans of the band too. We’re excited for what the Hives will do next.”
Almqvist emphasizes that rock ‘n’ roll cannot grow up. “For me at some point it’s not rock’n’roll anymore,” says the singer. “If we let it grow up, it becomes a different kind of music. It’s about the feeling, that immature, euphoric feeling.” Even aging bands like the Rolling Stones can do that, says Almqvist, who undoubtedly took an example from Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger for his ecstatic stage movements.
The most unusual of the twelve new tracks – and an exception in the entire Hives discography – is “What Did I Ever Do To You?”, which is based on a synthesizer loop of sorts. It was created on a unique device. “It’s like a synthesizer, an organ, hooked up to a guitar, hooked up to a mic and a drum machine. I bought it from a guy and I got the patent for it. It’s a fun machine,” explains Howlin’ Pelle. “We made music with it and that was the first thing that came out of it.” An atypical but very cool Hives song.
“All the songs sound different to us,” says Almqvist. Does the new record have the classic sound of The Hives – or is everything new? “It’s a question of perspective. For me it’s important that it sounds new enough that I feel like it. Because we have so many old songs that are good and that we play live. So that a new song replaces an old one , he has to be better. And sometimes that can be very difficult or requires you to do it differently.”
After more than 20 years in the music business, things don’t get any easier for The Hives. “There’s a lot of good music out there that you could listen to instead of a The Hives album,” admits Pelle Almqvist. “So we have to make sure this album has merit.” And the Swedes really did that.
Overall, The Hives did everything right with “The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons”. The new album can surprisingly compete with the great classic “Veni Vidi Vicious” from the year 2000. While it’s not devoid of filler, if you’re being honest, it wasn’t the record that launched The Hives around the world at the turn of the millennium.
By the way, Pelle Almqvist wants to avoid The Hives letting so much time pass between two studio albums at all costs. “I don’t want that to happen again, this long distance,” the charismatic band leader clarifies. “I hope we can keep up the pace from now on.”