2023-08-25 18:52:42
„Rock’n’roll can’t grow up, it is a perpetual teenager and this album feels exactly like that“ says Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist quite rightly and means practically Garage Revival Forever: The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons lets the Hives celebrate a surprisingly lively rebirth.
The stylistic focus was following the ambitious but ultimately failed The Black and White Album yes already with the root reflection Lex Hives posed once more. But it was only following a break of more than ten years that the batteries of the Swedes were explosively recharged enough to serve their traditional strengths with the necessary emphasis and playful power; to look following 26 years Barely Legal to be able to let off steam once more unrestrictedly in one’s own comfort zone as crisply and snappy, energetically catchy and without any length making fun as the demands on the brand Hives assume.
That means: The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons sounds like its predecessor, only with better songs across the board, stronger highlights and no dropouts. Or like the album you’re right following Tyrannosaurus Hives had waited in vain (and which might have been disappointing on first contact, but would have ignited at least on the B-side level of the first three albums in an addictive manner by the third round at the latest).
So yes, The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons (whose conceptual background story regarding the death of the fictitious band mastermind that gave the title can be read elsewhere if interested) can perhaps be accused of being conceptualized in a formulaic way and insofar of delivering material that is so similar (and in some ideas even congruent) already better served by the band. But they really have to keep themselves busy Hives Not really that, as their effective idealism finally works almost optimally once more, because we hear a band that is absolutely in its element and puts well-known virtues on a pedestal.
The frame of the record alone is irresistible following the opening pre-catchy smasher Bogus Operandi the following Trapdoor Solution as urgent as exemplary for yourself (esp Outsmarted) steals, but does so with so much hunger and a good amount of fire under the hood that it is disarming. On the other hand leads The Bomb pushing forward on the home straight of the album with a hasty pull, kicking a killer hook ahead to mit What Did I Ever Do to You? (an obligatory synthpop minimalism in the tradition of Find Another Girl – but with a wonderfully brazen panorama twist as an opulent finish) and once once more a hard step on the gas pedal Step Out of the Way to show off properly as a finale.
In between does The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons practically nothing wrong, but also throws in a good handclaps at the anachronistic, eclectic party following for the added atmosphere Countdown to Shutdown more groove injected into the robotic staccato beyond punk. Rigor Mortis Radio rumbles so clapping gen smoothem Iggy Pop and Crash Into the Weekend to more classic rock ‘n’ roll, meanwhile That’s the Way the Story Goes lets your hands dance to a sexy-dystopian twang with a shaking scary guitar. Stick Up strolled with saxophone in black and white pomp and Smoke & Mirrors jogs exuberantly stomping to the break and releasing jubilant endorphins before the end of the stack Two Kinds of Trouble lifts even banal Uff-Zack platitudes above the standard fare with its catchy accents: one of the clearest hits among so many, especially since the whole series of single heralds is now noticeably stronger in the album context and on a wave of authentic joy regarding the simplicity of the formula for success Hives rode.
Meanwhile, their suits are sitting at the funeral of Randy Fitzsimmons just like the sharp riffs and rhythms, instead of digging themselves into the grave, the quintet gives itself a veritable fresh cell cure. Resistance to trends means authentic motivation here, and that today you can like the same things and virtues regarding the band that you fell in love with a quarter of a century ago.
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