Album of the Week

More than a decade since their last album was released, Sweden’s The Hives sound as nihilistic and melodic as they did on their 2000 garage-punk classic Veni Vidi Vicious. “Mmm, stand to the side when my shit starts wrecking/ You’re gonna think you gone blind,” frontman Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist wails on “Bogus Operandi,” which starts off with grand dramatic pauses before the sparks start—and don’t stop—flying. From there, it’s straight into “Trapdoor Solution,” a breakneck minute and three seconds of garage fuzz that finds Amqvist as guttural as ever. But there are surprises and experiments here, too. “Stick Up” crashes together Cab Calloway vaudeville and horror punk. “Countdown to Shutdown”—with references to Ponzi schemes and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs pyramid—cruises on a slinky groove courtesy of bassist The Johan and Only (Johan Gustaffson), who has toured with the band and played on 2020′s Live at Third Man Records, but makes his studio album debut here.

Almqvist plays it more louche—think Jonathan Fire*Eater—than fevered on “Rigor Mortis Radio” (“I got your email saying you wanted me/ I got your email, delete delete”). And he adopts a bluesman delivery for “Crash into the Weekend,” a mondo rug-cutter fueled by frenzied handclaps and furious rockabilly guitar. “I’m going to crash into the weekend like a busted jaw/ Riding shotgun to a monkey on a circular saw … I’m going to crash into the bottom of a bottomless pit.” Almqvist promises (threatens?).

According to Hives lore, which has always been over-the-top, the album’s title refers to their invisible “sixth member” and manager who mysteriously recruited each musician via letter and now, apparently, has led the band to an empty grave. (For what it’s worth, the name is registered to Nicholaus Arson, a.k.a. Niklas Almqvist, band guitarist and Pelle’s brother.) But don’t get bogged down in the goofiness—just enjoy the ride. “Two Kinds of Trouble” stomps, “The Way the Story Goes” rides a fierce, sped-up Cramps groove and “The Bomb” is a hoot—all frenzied chanting, tight rhythm and playful call-and-response: “What do you want to do?/ Go off!/ What don’t you want to do?/Not go off!” The album breathlessly wraps up with the punishingly fast and furious “Step Out of the Way,” clocking in at less than a minute and a half because what human over 22 could keep up with this?