There are Rock bands and Rock n' Roll bands. The Hives play Rock n' Roll like it was first meant to be played. They play sexed up, straight-ahead, cocksure Rock n' Roll music like The Rolling Stones after far too many espressos (though I doubt after all that has gone into Keith Richard's body, a few pounds of espresso will do anything). Now, fourteen years into their career the band is still putting out the same great straight forward rock n' roll; however, do to the pressures of needing to validate the large major record contract they received after their early millennium "The" band buzz, the band experiments and stumbles fantastically.The album explodes out of the gate with the classic Hives "Tick Tick Boom" (pun was very intended). The song is raucous yet quite catchy, it's what every Hives song should be. The momentum continues for the next four songs but takes an abrupt halt on track six with "A Stroll Through Hive Manor Corridors," an extremely weird instrumental that sounds like the title implies, it's a goofy track that is novel for the first few listens but wares its welcome quickly. The song is the first of a few head scratchers on the album and though these Swedes are no strangers to weirdness this time around it seems like they are pandering to a frustrated record label.
