The Hives break out in different direction

The band recorded two songs with hip-hop artist/producer Pharrell Williams.

By JOHN BENSON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

The Hives are a band with a plan.

Whether it’s opening for the decidedly different Maroon Five last fall in an attempt to reach a new audience or releasing 2007 change-up disc “The Black and White Album,” this slick-suit wearing Swedish garage rock act is trying to shake things up.

“This new record is more like a new beginning,” said guitarist Vigilante Carlstroem, calling from Stockholm, Sweden. “We didn’t record with the same people. We wanted to do a record in a different way.”

Doing things in a different way has been The Hives’ modus operandi from the beginning.

Whereas its 1997 debut “Barely Legal” fell on deaf ears, the outfit’s 2000 follow-up “Veni Vidi Vicious” was on the same path before it was re-released stateside to coincide with the garage rock zeitgeist of The White Stripes and The Strokes.

While its second go-round led to hit single “Hate to Say I Told You So,” the group’s third effort, 2004’s “Tyrannosaurus Hives,” did very little. The album’s one-dimensional punkish guitars and in-your-face sound was easily identifiable as The Hives, but seemed clichéd.

“That album wasn’t a mistake,” Carlstroem said. “At least to me, but I don’t regret anything. No matter what song we play, it still sounds like The Hives.”

When it came time to record “The Black and White Album,” the band knew it wanted to do something different. Most noticeably, the quintet recorded two songs — “Well All Right!” and “T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.” — with hip-hop artist/producer Pharrell Williams (Jay-Z, Gwen Stefani, Ludacris).

However, it was lead single “Tick Tick Boom” that attracted attention. The quintessentially Hives-sounding track was named the official theme song for WWE Survivor Series 2007, featured heavily in video game “Madden NFL 08” and spotlighted in a Nike commercial.

It appears as though the lesson learned by The Hives is no matter how you attempt to change, the market wants you to sound the same.

“We have a lot of songs on the new album that aren’t very Hives-y,” Carlstroem said. “I guess the record label ended up picking that single first that is very Hives-y. I don’t know, it’s hard to tell. It was fun doing it, and I don’t think we’ll do it exactly the same next time around. It could be even further away in the direction or it could be back to the same. It’s hard to say.

“I think we’re kind of easing up a bit about making records. We’ve always been very picky when rehearsing the records. We take a long time for us to write and record an album, and I guess working with new people this time around, like Pharrell, we’ll take all of the parts we like from working with different producers and then we might do it ourselves again.”

For now, The Hives are touring with a scheduled performance Sunday at The Agora. Carlstroem said he expects this trip to Northeast Ohio to be quite different from the band’s previous visit.

“Last time we went fishing outside of Cleveland,” Carlstroem said. “It was a small trout stream.”

Considering their northern European homeland, will The Hives consider Lake Erie ice fishing this time around?

“No,” Carlstroem laughed. “I think we’ll go to the Rock Hall museum instead.”