Video mix: Acid House Kings, Hello Saferide, The Hives, Meshuggah, Randy, Rough Bunnies, more...

MP3: The Hives - Main offender

Having mentioned The Hives in passing yesterday, I figure it's as good a time as any to to make them my Friday flashback post. I've only seen them once and it was on their first US tour supporting The (International) Noise Conspiracy. The band had already started to gather a decent amount of hype in the UK at that point, but were still mostly unknown in the States. A few radio stations had started to playlist them, but that's it. The crowd, outside of myself and a maybe a few other folks, were totally ignorant about the band. They were there for t(I)NC and never knew what hit 'em. All I know is that t(I)NC must've been majorly bummed that tour because I'm sure they got shown up each and every single night. No amount of mic twirling from Dennis could've saved things for them. The Hives ruled the night and, after that tour, everyone in the world knew it. So here's a live track from that era, recording live by Swedish Radio at the Brixton Academy in 2002.

The Hives - Main offender (live)

MP3: The Stores - The TV reminds me of what to be

Even though we haven't heard anything new from The Hives in awhile, it's not as if Scandinavian garage-rock suddenly went away. The scene has been going strong for a long time and was one of the first things I discovered once I started to venture beyond the realms of metal in the mid-90s (via The Hellacopters, of course). The Stores are a Danish threesome continuing the fine tradition. I love the mix of that cavernous surf-rock guitar tone over a driving rhythm section. The main hook riff is introduced and almost immediately abandoned while the bass and drums work hard to make sure to hold everything together. The band is so tight and on-fire, it gives the guitarist room to do pretty much whatever he wants. It doesn't matter if he's just wailing on chords or working out new ways to tear apart the main theme, it all sounds great. Funny to think that these guys are labelmates with Attrap, but it's true. As you should know, good music is good music, regardless of genre.

The Stores - The TV reminds me of what to be

Finnish act Disco Ensemble is spreading their tentacles into Europe and has signed a worldwide deal (excluding Finland where they remain on Fullsteam) with Universal Records. They recently re-recorded four songs from the "First aid kit album with Pelle Gunnerfeldt (Fireside, The Hives, etc.) and Michael Ilbert (The Hellacopters, Cardigans, etc.) in Sweden for a special European rerelease in August. The single "Black euro" comes out first on August 4 and the full-length follows on August 18. And that's not all - the band will also release "We might fall apart" as a 7" single in the UK on July 3 simultaneously with a release in their home country of Finland. For the record, "We might..." is probably my favorite DE song that I've heard, but that's not necessarily saying that much.

Swedish singer/songwriter Tobias Fröberg has signed with Poptones, the UK label run by Alan McGee. In case you were unaware, Alan is credited with the discovery of both Oasis and Primal Scream and also for kickstarting the whole craze surrounding The Hives. Tobias' new album "Somewhere in the city" will be released over there shortly and you can read an interview with him about his new record and opinions on Swedish music right here: http://www.poptones.co.uk/index.php?/news/more/tobias_froberg/

This year's Where the Action Is travelling festival tour in Sweden will feature Millencolin, The Hellacopters, Backyard Babies, Soundtrack of Our Lives and The Hives. Dates:

07/27 - Strömstad
07/28 - Huskvarna
07/29 - Linköping
07/30 - Örebro
08/03 - Malmö
08/05 - Göteborg
08/08 - Söderbärke
08/09 - Stockholm

Tickets go on sale Friday.

PopMatters interviews Pelle Almqvist of The Hives: http://www.popmatters.com/music/interviews/hives-051212.shtml

Recommened music at Amazon from Howlin' Pelle of The Hives: [click here]

The Hives stream their favorite music on Australia's Triple J: http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/music_specials/s1486562.htm (via)
Lots of choice Swedish selections, of course.

"Tussles In Brussels" is the name of a new live DVD from The Hives, due out November 14. The disc will contain a live show filmed in Belgium along with behind-the-scenes footage, TV spots and videos.

Randy played a secret show at Debaser in Stockholm this past weekend where they a did a set of ten of their own songs followed by six Misfits covers featuring Howlin' Pelle from The Hives on vocals. See pics: http://www.rockfoto.nu/intSpelning/409/intBand/101

Festival report: Hultsfred Festivalen 05

Interview: Peter Ahlqvist (Burning Heart Records)

Interview: Anders Wendin/Moneybrother

The annual Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll is out and Scandinavian entries on the top album list include The Hives (#53), Dungen (#69), The Concretes (#80), Erlend Oye (#88), Annie (#90), Kings of Convenience (#101), Sahara Hotnights (#240), Luomo (#261) and Pan Sonic (#291). Read more: http://www.villagevoice.com/specials/pazznjop/04/