The Hives are another act from the ’school of 2002′, where on the coat-tails of much bigger bands, loads of bands of skinny guys with guitars starting cropping up. The Hives were active long before 2002, Pelle tonight would have you believe they were the first rock band of all-time; “And you know what came before the Hives ladies n gennlemen??? “NOTHINNNNNNN, ABSOULTELY NOTHHHNNN”.

They have infact been active since the mid-nineties but it wasn’t until the re-release of the compilation ‘Your new favourite band’ and singles ‘Main offender’ and ‘Hate to say I told you so’ that
people started to pay attention to this Swedish garage rock five piece. Cue big bucks deal to Universal but since then, the quality of the albums and the diminishing record label returns have been slightly more than underwhelming.

Live however, they are a totally different proposition as a rammed to capacity Brixton Academy will testify. The Hives were probably wishing that they could translate live ticket sales into album sales but to do that they’d need to record something a bit more impressive that 2007s lacklustre album ‘The black and white album’.

Concentrating on that album and 2004’s ‘Tyrannosaurus Hives’, they roll straight into classics ‘Main offender’ and ‘Die, alright!’ which get the crowd going as quickly as the newer songs get the crowd to die down. Live they put on a brilliant show, singer Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist continues his weird morphing of a Baptist preacher man crossed with Mick Jagger circa 1964, his strutting and preening on stage is second to none, flanked by his equally as entertaining brother Nicholaus Arson who spends the entire set, jumping, gurning, throwing his guitar round his body and catching it one handed and generally pulling great rock moves, whilst the other three members concentrate on actually playing but in perfect tandem with the rest of the band in a way that is as almost as
identical as their snazzy suits.

The one dimensional nature of the band is soon apparent as each song is knocked out in breakneck speed including a spiky ‘Walk idiot walk’ and a scuffed ‘Two timing touch and broken bones’ but
when they do try to break the formula, it falls flat, ‘Diabolical scheme’ is just Hives on 33 and results in a mass bar exodus whilst next single “T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S”, is the worst thing they’ve ever done, The Hives find funk, funk leaves laughing at the least funky band since Wet Wet Wet, it’s not pretty stuff and live even more abysmal.

These are however minor gripes as with The Hives, you are not expecting Radiohead style innovation or REM style lyrical introspection, you expect great big, dumb punk pop and it don’t get
dumber than this, this is the dumbest and it’s great!

Chris Todd