Richard BodinTwenty years ago, I walked out of one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen. To be honest, I was on the fence about going — until I noticed that Blues Explosion were the support act. But it was The Hives who floored me. I already liked their latest album at the time, Tyrannosaurus Hives, but the raw energy and sheer spontaneity of their live show completely won me over. I still remember it vividly. Listening now to their new record, The Hives Forever Forever The Hives, I can feel that same spark, that same uncontainable energy…
From Fagersta to the World Stage
The Hives formed in 1993 in Fagersta, in Sweden when they were around 15 or 16. Brothers Per ‘Pelle’ and Niklas Almqvist had already chosen stage names —Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist and Nicholaus Arson— and were joined by three friends with their own stage names: Mikael Karlsson (Vigilante Carlstroem), Mattias Bernvall (Dr. Matt Destruction) and Christian Grahn (Chris Dangerous). In a time when trends leaned toward grunge or britpop, the quintet was inspired by a garage-punk vibe. They topped it off with matching stage uniforms, a nod to the Kinks or The Animals in the sixties.
Their first albums, Barely Legal (1997) and Veni Vidi Vicious (2000), met modest success. Sweden wasn’t the place where they would break out — not quite in sync with the Stockholm hipster audience looking down on them — so they threw themselves into relentless touring across Europe. Their third effort, Tyrannosaurus Hives (2004), rode the wave of the garage revival sparked by bands like The Strokes and The White Stripes, taking them from underground punk act to headliners.
The young punks never really took themselves too seriously, even with success. “It was pretty cool. [But] it was funny to us, and we kind of sniggered at it. We were really suspicious and cynical about mainstream success,” explains Howlin’ Pelle. Later albums received mixed reactions, but interest in the band never faded. In 2013, Dr. Matt Destruction stepped down for health reasons and was replaced by The Johan and Only (Johan Gustafsson). Despite what they expected, their audience not only remained loyal but even grew in recent years to a younger generation.
The Legend of Randy Fitzsimmons
The Hives also know how to cultivate mystique. The story goes that in 1993 the band received a letter from a mysterious Randy Fitzsimmons urging them to form a band, prophesying their success. Fitzsimmons, operating behind the scenes, was credited as manager, songwriter, and producer. In 2002, NME revealed that Randy Fitzsimmons was a pseudonym for Niklas Almqvist.
Yet the band kept the myth alive, even staging Fitzsimmons’ “death” after Lex Hives (2012), explaining the hiatus in album releases. Later, they claimed to have unearthed his coffin. Inside was a letter and a trove of demos that became The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons (2023). Since then, other Fitzsimmons — Wilbur, Chip, and Montgomery — have emerged, co-signing songs with Randy.
The Fitzsimmons myth has always been more than a gimmick. By crediting their songs to a mysterious sixth member — now a whole Fitzsimmons clan — The Hives framed themselves not around a leader but as a tight, equal unit. That collective identity — equal parts punk attitude and playful mystique — has kept them fresh long after their garage-revival peers faded. The Hives Forever Forever The Hives shows just how alive that idea still is.
Punk Attitude in Every Track
And when it comes to punk, The Hives Forever Forever The Hives is steeped in it — from the electric energy to lyrics reacting to today’s society. The songs bristle with defiance. “Enough is Enough” is railing against conformity. “Born a Rebel “is mocking suffocating religions. “Legalize Living” is turning down the rules of law into a manifesto for living life to the fullest. “Path of Most Resistance “celebrates life outside the lines — the kind of self-made rebellion that has always fueled the band. It also taps into something real: that sense of freedom and anarchy at the heart of punk. That fire has carried them from 1993 to now. They may have grown up, but as Pelle reminds us, “rock’n’roll can’t grow up; it is a perpetual teenager.”
As the album approached release, Pelle reflected on touring with massive acts like The Rolling Stones and AC/DC, and how they wanted to capture that arena-level grandeur. And they did. The result is 33 minutes of high-octane pure rock’n’roll. Listening to it, I couldn’t help but sing along, as if already in the mosh pit — more like howling or screaming really. Many of these songs are bona fide anthems: Legalize Living, OCDOD, Bad Call, Born a Rebel — all built to hit hard in a live setting.
Thirty Years Strong
With a career spanning over thirty years, The Hives still have it: the spontaneity, the energy, the uncompromising punk attitude, never taking themselves too seriously. The Hives Forever Forever The Hives is a rock’n’roll manifesto for living life to the fullest — just like The Hives play their music, as if everything depends on it.
