The Hives - 'The Black And White Album' (Polydor) Released 15/10/07

There’s little to suggest that that’s the case as the album gets underway with the exultant combination of lead single, ‘Tick Tick Boom’ and ‘Try It Again.’  The latter, like the former, revolves around a simple chord shape but differs largely because of the gaggle of girls which join in on the chorus. Yes, whereas for most bands a major label means that they rent a school choir, The Hives have gone for the more rock ‘n’ roll choice of selecting a few of their most, er, vocally talented groupies. “Wooooooo, Yeah,” screams a girl at the song’s end. It’s more Grease, than Oliver Twist.

Thankfully what The Hives have also maintained with, ‘The Black And White Album,’ is the ability to sound like they’re playing a song like it’s the last time that they’ll ever have an instrument in their hands. The pace shoots from frenetic (‘You Got It All...Wrong’) to frenzied (‘Hey Little World’) and just as it seems they can’t get to the end of a song any faster, the bebop of, ‘You Dress Up For Armageddon,’ sucks the final breath from your ear drums.

It’s in between these instances, however, where The Hives have changed. If you take their last two albums (2002’s ‘Your Favourite New Band’ and 2004’s ‘Tyrannosaurus Hives), for example, and add their playtime together, ‘The Black And White Album,’ is almost as long as the two of them combined. What’s appeared in the gaps between the pulsating, heart-starting moments has come courtesy of those extra dollars. ‘Well All Right,’ is a sing-a-long fusion of “Woo-Hoos” and “Yeeaah, Yeaahs” sung proudly over a dark and imposing bassline, while, ‘T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S,’ sounds like a 33rpm take on Blondie’s, ‘Heart Of Glass,’ where once again the disco bassline has come to eminence. Both songs, which offer an altogether different Hives musically, have come courtesy of the band’s unanticipated relationship with producer Pharrell Williams (Britney Spears, Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z).

Where Williams has injected disco into The Hives, Dennis Herring (Elvis Costello, Modest Mouse) - who’s responsible for seven of the albums fourteen tracks – has for the first time given the ultimate toilet venue band the songs to work on the bigger stage. ‘Return The Favour,’ is a tireless assault of power chords, in which Almqvist sings, “It’s like a boxer’s goodbye, I’ll see you Cassius Clayter / In French Muhammed a Oui, Yeah we have little next to nothing to talk about,” with a beautifully droll ambition. Herring’s biggest influence, however, has come on the album’s standout track, ‘Won’t Be Long.’ About escaping the narcosis of city life, it’s a thrusting (literally) insight into a new era for The Hives where there’s synths in the music and genuine grit to Almqvist’s usual Jagger swagger.

In July, Almqvist’s words, like the majority of his sentiments, seemed serious. That, ‘The Black And White Album,’ would be the first and last hurrah for The Hives into the world of major finances. Well, on the strength and diversity of this you’d hope that if it is the last time that they’ve picked up some useful advice to utilise on the next record.