The Hives: The Black and White Album

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Eric R. Danton wrote in his Hartford Courant blog Sound Check: "Few bands rival the Hives for outrageous hyperbole and deadpan declarations of self-regard. Fortunately, the Swedish garage-rockers mostly back up their insistent (and witty) claims to greatness. … [T]he Hives try faux-sleazy funk on 'T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.' (one of two songs produced by Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes) and trippy organ on the instrumental 'A Stroll Through Hive Manor Corridors.' The lean two-note bass line and oddball electronic sounds on 'Giddy Up!' evoke Devo’s post-punk eccentricity, and slinky piano gives “Puppet on a String” a decadent cabaret feel. But the Hives’ best tunes are the ones that race pell-mell through churning guitar riffs and pounding drums while singer Almqvist hollers about, well, whatever. He gets apocalyptic over precision riffage on 'You Dress Up for Armageddon,' extols his own virtues on 'Try It Again' and twists words into a dizzying mess on 'Return the Favour' over three juiced-up punk chords that would have made the Ramones proud" ("CD Review," 11/12/07).