HIVES - The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons LP

Highly recommended. CD also available.

The Hives' singer Howlin' Pelle Almqvist issued a simple statement that coincided with the initial announcement of the album:

"We left the throne for a decade. No one sat on it, and so here we are again."

26 years after the band's delightfully raw and furious debut Barely Legal, the Hives are back with The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons, only their sixth studio album overall and their first since 2012's Lex Hives. The band's sophomore effort Veni Vidi Vicious became their signature album, with the follow-up album Tyrannosaurus Hives continuing the now well-established Hives formula. A shake-up in production style and formula on The Black and White Album yielded a mixed bag of songs, while Lex Hives was meat-and-potatoes Hives that felt somewhat tired. The entire time, the band have maintained their status as one of the greatest live acts to have ever graced the earth, while also maintaining the satirical and sarcastic braggadocious attitude about themselves and their music (one of the ways the band promoted this album here is by calling it the "soon-to-be-award-winning new album by the Hives"). This satire is done in good taste obviously, but considering the large gap between albums and the expectations that were set for the band, they had to absolutely show up for Almqvist's statement to not just come off as corny and standard Hives fare. They showed up and then some, however, rightfully reclaiming the throne with a definitive garage rock revival album and rock solid entry in their discography.