It turns out the HIVES have not split up, died, gone into politics or grown up as some of the more recent rumours would have it. It turns out they have been DIGGING!
Yes, that is correct. They have spent the last year and a half since they stopped touring relentlessly excavating the backyard of Hive Manor, attempting something people said they would be crazy to try. It was said to be a myth.
An Eldorado, an Atlantis, a Loch Ness monster, an Apollo program. Count on the HIVES to prove them all wrong cause here it is…
But let’s take it from the top, shall we? Yes, let’s!
When, in 2001, they played 250+ shows, wowed audiences from Tokyo to Trondheim, from Glasgow to Georgia, reintroduced rock in the mainstream (No, I mean actual ROCK MUSIC) and truly became everybody and their mama’s new favourite band, their plan had already been in action for 7 years.
Formed in the small industrial town of Fagersta, Sweden in 1993, the Hives, then in their early teens were saved from boredom and despair by Mr. Randy Fitzimmons. He came to them with the idea to start a musical group based on everything he and the band found exciting.
After teaching themselves to play instruments and then practising, perfecting and polishing their craft, they released their first album ‘Barely Legal’ in 1997 to much acclaim.
A perfect statement of teenage will power over pretty much everything else, it was hailed by people fed up with the staleness of contemporary rock. Here was a band with roots but a mind of their own. Style and grace yet swerve and brute force. Not to mention the sheer energy to power the watch on your wrist and the sun in the sky.
Touring commenced and took them several laps around Sweden and Europe gathering a cult following that grew steadily upon each visit. Dressed in black and white and looking out of sight, the gloves were off and they were ready for anything.
Exactly what to do – record a record so good the world can’t ignore it. They release ‘Veni Vidi Vicious’ and nothing is ever the same.
Rave reviews, more touring and that steadily growing cult following that can no longer fit into the clubs they play. A full year and a half of sold out shows later…
Cue big time UK industry guy and all around music fan Alan McGee (Oasis, Primal Scream, Creation Records) sees the Hives on German TV and decides that this is important.
He has the band put together a form of greatest hits for his Poptones label. ‘Your New Favourite Band’, as the result is dubbed, catches a sleeping England by surprise.
Rock music that is exciting and dangerous not really being the toast of the town lately.
Cue ‘Rock is back!’ headlines in newspapers and on TV. “We always knew the world would catch on, we just had to wait them in”, as the band themselves say.
Cue hits ‘Hate To Say I Told You So’ and ‘Main Offender’ and things are drastically different. People in the UK once again connect rock bands with showmanship, excitement, and an actual good time. Your new favorite band? Indeed.
In the space of a few short months, the band then go on to conquer America and beyond.
People everywhere now talk about, listen to and praise our five heroes. The world seems a little bit blacker and a little bit whiter. Phase Two is
complete. Time to initiate Phase Three.
After touring for three years, the Hives suddenly decide on a full stop. A new record deal is signed and they go back to Hive Manor, their HQ in Fagersta, Sweden. Here they will spend all their time until they come up with a new sound, they promise. A more metronomic, monotonous and mechanical sound. “After playing the same songs for three years, we wanted to surprise ourselves again,” they say. This is where the traces end.
Well, The calendar now says 2004, and the Hives have been missing from the world for a year and a half.
Their doubters and enemies have already begun scribbling their obituaries and their fans have to try and make do with the copycat bands that follow in their wake. Things look bleak…
BUT HERE THEY ARE! BACK FROM THE DUG-OUT WITH TYRANNOSAURUS HIVES!
After much research, the members of the Hives discovered that Tyrannosaurus Hives had to be located in their own backyard. Two weeks after touring stopped, digging would start. Reports of strange noises heard all over Fagersta commenced.
As the ’90s layer was still covered in smelly crap, the first layer to be thoroughly searched contained the bleeps and bloops of the ’80s new wave. Interesting! They dug further. The metallic kerrang of ’70s punk. Wow!
They dug further still. The shaking hair and swinging hips of ’60s rock and soul. Useful! Further… Slapback echo, twangy guitar – this must be the ’50s. Further. The primal force and the sheer joy of ’40s R’n’B. Good. Further….further…further. KRITA, JURA…
TYRANNOSAURUS HIVES!
Tyrannosaurus Hives is all you hoped for and more.
Tyrannosaurus Hives is a record so full of potential hits, it would take a hundred songwriters working for a hundred years to come up with anything like it.
Tyrannosaurus Hives is an album recorded in Sweden by Pelle Gunnerfeldt, who also recorded their previous two, despite many of the world’s biggest-name producers lining up to work with them. “It’s the only way we wanted to do it,” they say.
Tyrannosaurus Hives is a record by a band so fired up that, if you look closely, you can see small drops of sweat when you open the disc.
