The Hives - 'We Rule The World (T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.)'

The Hives releasing a track called ‘We Rule The World’ is either a sad indictment on the state of Planet Earth, or slightly tongue in cheek. Admittedly, they probably do rule the slightly-backwards-very-cheesy-pop-rock world, but it isn’t quite the same thing.In the days before Timbaland produced at least half of the songs released each week, getting Pharrell Williams in on mixing duties would have meant an instant hit for the band. He adds a funk-infused groove to the sound, a welcome alteration from the usual narrow noise the Scandinavians muster.

It is a notable improvement on the annoying crashing about of previous single ‘Tick Tick Boom!’ but this isn’t much of a commendation. From the strange opening greeting of “Welcome,” to the grating spelling of T.H.E H.I.V.E.S, there is very little substance here. Matt Helders from Arctic Monkeys produces a rather similar rendition of the same song on the B-Side, presumably because he had a spare half-hour.

Released 25/02/08 on Polydor.