Three Excellent Shows Tonight In Minneapolis

Download: The Hives - "Tick Tick Boom"
Download: The Donnas - "Don't Wait Up For Me"

Two of the definitive definite article bands - The Hives and The Donnas - are in town to Rawk First Avenue tonight. Tickets are $20 and the show is all-ages. The show is not sold out yet, so if you've got an inclination for going, give in, for those about to rock will be undoubtedly saluted at a night like this.

The Hives MySpace Page
The Donnas MySpace Page



Download: The Black Lips - "Stranger"
Download: The Black Lips - "O Katrina"

Garage rock was essentially born out of young, adolescent men in the 1960s trying to emulate the old R&B records from decades previous. The Black Lips, a highly energetic quartet from Atlanta, Georgia, harkens back to that time with simple, but immensely addictive, rock squalor. Last year, the Lips released two records, Los Valientes Del Mundo and Good Bad Not Evil. The band, known for its chaotic, comedic and wholly unpredictable live shows, play at the 7th Street Entry. Tickets are $14 for a 21+ show. Doors open at 8 p.m.

The Black Lips MySpace Page



Download: Crystal Castles - "Air War"
Download: HEALTH - "Crimewave"

HEALTH and Crystal Castles play at the T-Rock tonight. Crystal Castles will be issuing their debut album in a couple of weeks, so check them out tonight if you want to get an advanced taste. Tickets are $14 and doors are at 9 p.m. for a 21+ show.

HEALTH MySpace Page
Crystal Castles MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

The Hives Rock First Ave In Late February, Announce More US Tour Dates

Download: The Hives - "Tick Tick Boom"
Download: The Donnas - "Don't Wait Up For Me"

If The Hives are law, and you are crime, then you'll have multiple opportunities to get arrested, should the band be in law enforcement mood during their live shows. Still touring behind last fall's The Black And White Album, the band has announced several dates, including one in Minneapolis at First Avenue on February 28th.

Opening will be The Donnas, who are still going strong behind their last release, Bitchin', which was also released last fall.

Besides definite articles, both The Hives and The Donnas have larger-than-life-bordering-on-tongue-in-cheek rock sounds which are gloriously indebted to great bands of the past. Similarly, both bands have their backs against the record industry wall, with The Hives putting out their first record since the commercially underwhelming Tyrannosaurus Hives, and The Donnas showcasing Bitchin' as the first release on their own label. Hopefully, these groups will combine their efforts and produce a glorious evening of fist-pumping anthems and unabashed enthusiasm.

A.K.A Tour Dates:

Feb 14 2008 8:00P
UMA Night Club Monterrey, Nuevo León
Feb 16 2008 8:00P
MX Beat Guadalajara, Jalisco
Feb 17 2008 8:00P
Salon Vive Cuevo Mexico DF, México
Feb 19 2008 8:00P
The Wiltern Los Angeles, California
Feb 20 2008 8:00P
The Filmore San Francisco, California
Feb 21 2008 8:00P
Roseland Theater Portland, Oregon
Feb 22 2008 8:00P
Commodore Ballroom Vancouver, British Columbia
Feb 23 2008 8:00P
Showbox SODO Seattle, Washington
Feb 26 2008 8:00P
Ogden Theatre Denver, Colorado
Feb 28 2008 8:00P
First Avenue Minneapolis, Minnesota
Feb 29 2008 8:00P
Riviera Theater Chicago, Illinois
Mar 1 2008 8:00P
Newport Music Hall Columbus, Ohio
Mar 2 2008 8:00P
Agora Theater Cleveland, Ohio
Mar 3 2008 8:00P
Kool Haus Toronto, Ontario
Mar 4 2008 8:00P
Club Soda Montreal, Quebec
Mar 7 2008 8:00P
Terminal 5 New York, New York
Mar 8 2008 8:00P
930 Club Washington DC, Washington DC

The Hives MySpace Page
The Donnas MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

The Hives - The Black And White Album

Download: The Hives - "Tick Tick Boom"
Download: The Hives - "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S."
Download: The Hives - "Giddy Up!"

The Hives
The Black And White Album (A&M/Octone, 2007)
Grade: A-

One has to feel kind of bad for The Hives. Commercially and critically speaking, they got kind of relegated to second-class status in favor of The White Stripes during the "The" band revolution of the early 2000s. Their last album, Tyrannosaurus Hives, got the shaft in the US. But they won't get unnoticed again: this time, they're taking us to the pavement.

The Black and White Album opens with "Tick Tick Boom" a song that bares all kinds of menace, with lyrics warning that "its too late" for someone to come crawling back to the songwriter (Presumably the subject of the song Nicholaus Arson, who is purported to write all the band's songs, despite the band’s own claim of a hidden “Sixth” member who really writes all of the group’s material.). While it's probably an anthem to an ex-lover, given the band's ego and three-year absence, the song takes on new life as a reveille for a new age of The Hives.

After “Tick Tick Boom”, the band clings to a base of jarringly jangly guitars on most of The Black And White Album’s other material. But Pelle Almqvist and company also expand sonically into previously unknown territory: The Hives hit just the right mix of old and new to have a signature sound rather without getting stuck in a rut.

The Jacknife Lee-produced "Hey, Little World" is one of the more conservative tracks on The Black and White Album, but rather than reeking of stagnant ideas, it shows how well The Hives have come to own their sound. From their beginning, they've expanded their repertoire of sounds and increased the complexity of their songwriting. They still do loud and raucous really well, but they don't rely on volume as much as they once did.

And that's a great, great thing because it allowed The Hives to spread out into disco, snapping dance-punk and …video game music on the sinisterly cute "A Stroll Through Hive Manor Corridors." The song is a spooky little number that channels Mario 64 music at its best without getting too camp. Another highlight is the disco jam "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.", with its over-the-top falsetto vocals, and quaking bassline. The song’s refrain of "We rule the world!" gives it just the boost of egomaniacal ridiculousness that makes the track awesomely kitschy, rather than just plain silly. A lot of that campy appeal has to do with the fact that Pharrell Williams, whose work always skirts the line between being ridiculous and mind-blowingly awesome, produced the track (along with one other song, “Well All Right!”).

In a similar vein, "Giddy Up!" is a bawdy dance punk song sure to shake hips. Pelle's eponymous howl finds a home in shaky, sweaty dance punk as well as it does on "Hey, Little World." And the brash guitars so characteristic of The Hives prove remarkably adaptable to many styles without losing their vibrant thrash.

While this is the Hives' most ambitious record, The Black and White Album proves that the Hives are a band capable of growing and expanding stylistically while remaining firmly rooted in their own sound.

MySpace Page

(April Wright)