Elusive, faceless and admittedly, an entire thriller, it seems Randy Fitzsimmons is not with us. “He wrote all of the songs, which was crucial”, The Hives’ bassist Nicholaus Arson re-affirmed to NME earlier this yr, paying tribute to the fictional character who allegedly masterminded their total discography. As with most statements made by the band, it’s essential to the enjoyment of their work to not take issues too critically or actually.
Fitzsimmons’ demise, they are saying, held the important thing to the primary report from the Swedish five-piece in over a decade, rising from his ashes with a “quickly to be award-winning album.” These have been the phrases of frontman Pelle Almqvist, joking round with stadium crowds all through a summer season in assist of Arctic Monkeys’ mammoth UK tour.
There’s no messing about on ‘The Loss of life Of Randy Fitzsimmons’, launched by way of the riff-tastic lead single ‘Bogus Operandi’. There’s an analogous anthemic nature to ‘Smoke & Mirrors’, a nostalgic mid-point on what’s in any other case a rapid-fire album. The prospect of sharing a stage with the Monkeys might nicely have rubbed off on ‘What Did I Ever Do To You?’, their very own reply to ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ Armed with a strikingly related riff, it’s as experimental because the quintet will get, with a lyrical randomness that’s straight out of Alex Turner’s e-book: “You might have fallen / And damaged your collarbone.”
Each transfer they make feels purely instinctive, and that’s the fantastic thing about it. “This must be fucking silly and infantile”, Almqvist informed NME of ‘Trapdoor Resolution’, a 63-second injection of punk rock that borders on the pace of sunshine. Its reckless youthful sibling is ‘The Bomb’, a name and response rollercoaster within the identify of a mega night time out. Whereas they is likely to be approaching the again finish of their forties, The Hives nonetheless occasion tougher than the remainder of us mixed.
The tempo is so obscenely excessive, that the bounce of ‘Crash Into The Weekend’ even seems like a breather, a teaser for the sheer carnage that’s about to go down, which extends into subsequent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. As album nearer ‘Step Out Of The Approach’ warns “Step out of the best way for those who can’t take the tempo”.
Having spent 11 years away from the studio, The Hives zapped straight again into the one mode they know: pure pandemonium. It’s about time new generations obtained this wholesome dose of old-fashioned Hives, full of the identical depth, goofiness – and naturally, the matching black and white fits. It’s what Randy Fitzsimmons would have needed.
Particulars
- Launch date: August 11, 2023
- Report label: Disques Hives
