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The Hives - The Black and White Album

Rating

RIYL

The Strokes
The Vines
Jet

Tracklist

1. Tick Tick Boom
2. Try It Again
3. You Got It All...Wrong
4. Well All Right! 5. Hey Little World
6. A Stroll Through Hive Manor Corridors
7. Won't Be Long
8. T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.
9. Return the Favour
10. Giddy Up!
11. Square One Here I Come
12. You Dress Up for Armageddon
13. Puppet On A String
14. Bigger Hole To Fill

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Recent Ratings
Rick Gebhardt	Matt Birhanzel

The Hives have never been shy about showing off their swagger, and on their latest release, The Black and White Album, their swagger is the only thing keeping the album afloat. The album is a mixture of punk infused garage rock, with some dance-rock numbers, that done with any kind of hesitation would fall flat, but The Hives never hesitate musically, doing everything with a kind of spirit, and yes, swagger, that is unrelenting.

Take the opening track and lead single “Tick Tick Boom,” where after the chorus, one would think the band would follow the word “boom” by bursting right back into the music, but the band doesn’t even try to meet expectations, giving the listener an extended explosion sound, that is at once welcome and kind of irritating, making the listener wait for the music to return instead of just giving it back. This speaks for the entire album, because when The Hives get away from the traditional garage rock and jump into the dance rock tracks, they don’t simply divert focus for a song or two (the dance tracks comprise nearly half of the album). At some times, the dance rock works well and serves as a change of pace, but at others it feels a little tiresome.

“T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S” has a chorus that burrows into the brain and stays there, by the end of the song forcing you to scream along with it, ripping off LCD Soundsystem a little bit, but unable to bring the song to any satisfying point or conclusion. The dance-rock songs seem to drag a bit, feeling overly long and unnecessary. The root Hives sound works so well, any deviation from it, while at first seeming welcome, by the end feels distracting.

For the most part, The Black and White Album works as a garage punk revival, sounding both fresh and retro, and disregarding the dance tracks, fast paced and loose. But as with the other Hives' albums, when listening to it, it only sounds okay. You always feel like you have something better to be listening to. The music is workable, but never stands out and is never a prime example of the genre. It feels more like background music then something you put on for the express purpose of listening to it in passing. If you’re a big garage rock fan, or have loved the other Hives records, pick this up. If not, download a couple of tracks, because there are certainly some worth checking out, especially “Tick Tick Boom” and “You Dress Up for Armaggedon.”

--Matt McGraw