The Hives

A.K.A. I-D-I-O-T (Gearhead)
by Scott Hefflon

Gearhead and Bad Afro are my two favorite labels. They know how to pick ’em. While just a six-song, 12-minute EP, every second of these 12 minutes will get your blood rushing. I’d compare The Hives to the garagey, gonzo rambling of the Hellacopters with the hardcore punk velocity of classic Misfits, but both those names bring up conflicting images both separately and when combined, and I want no misunderstanding here… The Hives whack away hard’n’fast, giving off the impression of sloppy staggering, but’re actually dead-on’n’howling, ya know? They’re from Sweden, yip and howl and blaze though jumpy riffs in such a way you’d never confuse ’em with Green Day, and they’re snappy dressers. This EP (minus the awfully-produced Adicts number “Numbers”) was released in ’98, but most punks in the US are only now catching onto these guys and Scared of Chaka (who broke up cuz y’all took so fuckin’ long).
(PO Box 421219 San Francisco, CA 94142)