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The Broken RecordExtra
The Hives
Swedish rock band
The Hives are a Swedish garage rock band formed in Fagersta in 1993. After gaining success in Sweden during the 1990s, they rose to worldwide prominence in the early 2000s during the garage rock revival.
The band's line-up—consisting of Howlin' Pelle Almqvist (vocals), Nicholaus Arson, Vigilante Carlstroem, Dr. Matt Destruction (bass), and Chris Dangerous (drums)—remained unchanged from 1993 until 2013, when Matt Destruction retired for health reasons and was replaced by Johan Gustafsson, the bassist for Randy.
members: Pelle Almqvist, Niklas Almqvist, Vigilante Carlstroem, Johan Gustavsson, Christian Grahn, Mattias Bernwall
formed in: Fagersta
labels: Epitaph Records, A&M Octone Records, Burning Heart Records
genres: garage rock
awards: Musikexportpriset
Facts from Wikidata and Discogs, free to use.
garage punkgarage rockindie rockswedishgarage rock revivalpunk rock
The Dial Tone DailyExtra
Beginnings of the Hives (1993–1999)
The Hives was formed in 1993 by brothers Per "Pelle" Almqvist (Howlin' Pelle Almqvist) and Niklas Almqvist (Nicholaus Arson) in Fagersta. Friends of the brothers, Mikael Karlsson (Vigilante Carlstroem), Mattias Bernvall (Dr. Matt Destruction) and Christian Grahn (Chris Dangerous), soon joined the band and took stage names like the brothers. Drummer Dangerous suggested the name "Hives" for the band as he had read the word for the skin disease in a dictionary. The other members misunderstood the condition based on his description of it, as Howlin' Pelle later explained, "we thought it was a way more lethal disease, for one, and we thought it was way more contagious. So, we figured that we'd spread like a deadly disease across the land". The...
All songwriting except covers on the band's albums are credited to "Randy Fitzsimmons". The band claims Fitzsimmons was an honorary "sixth Hive", who along with writing their music, discovered and managed the band. The band has included hidden references to a sixth member of the band, including a hidden sixth pair of legs on the back cover of the Tyrannosaurus Hives album art. "Randy Fitzsimmons" is a registered pseudonym for guitarist Niklas Almqvist.
Swedish rock group in the garage rock genre from Fagersta, Västmanland, formed in 1993.
All band members were born in the years 1977–1978 and the group is led by the singer Howlin' Pelle Almqvist. After the year 2000, the group has achieved great success in Sweden and internationally. The Hives have distinguished themselves by dressing uniformly; not only on stage, but also at press conferences and other interviews, when all band members appear uniformly dressed where the stage costumes in changing designs have always been black and white.
Also known as: Hives, The Hives!!, 蜂窩合唱團
From Discogs (free to use). Their entry
Liner notes
The Hives, the records, oldest first
Sounds Like Sushi
1994 ep
Oh Lord! When? How?
1996 ep
Barely Legal
1997 album
a.k.a. I‐D‐I‐O‐T
1998 ep
A Killer Among Us
1998 ep
Veni Vidi Vicious
2000 album
Tyrannosaurus Hives
2004 album
on the air
Primer
2007 ep
The Black and White Album
2007 album
wanted
Tarred and Feathered
2010 ep
Lex Hives
2012 album
The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons
2023 album
The Hives Forever Forever the Hives
2025 album
A Little More for a Little You
year unknown album
Records from MusicBrainz; covers from the Cover Art Archive.
"Two-Timing Touch and Broken Bones" is the second single from the album Tyrannosaurus Hives by The Hives. Released as an Enhanced CD with B-side tracks in 2005, "Two-Timing Touch and Broken Bones" was considered a hit for The Hives, and appeared on several compilations.
Background
The guitar riff for "Two-Timing Touch and Broken Bones" is borrowed from a song by The Monkees 1966 hit "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone", which was written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. The chord sequence, which has been described as being jerky and monotonous by Marc Spitz of Spin magazine, is similar to the song "Kicks" by Paul Revere & the Raiders. "Two-Timing Touch and Broken Bones" has also been said to sound like Devo, and embraces the "garage rock" sound.
Reception
"Two-Timing Touch and Broken Bones" reached number 44 on the UK "Top 75" charts, during the week of 30 October 2004. The music video debuted on MTV Europe's Top 20 list on 4 December 2004 at number 19. It peaked at number 16 on 18 December 2004, and remained on the charts for 4 weeks, departing on 8 January 2005.
"Walk Idiot Walk" is the first single released from Swedish band the Hives' third album, Tyrannosaurus Hives (2004). It was written by Randy Fitzsimmons and produced by the Hives with Pelle Gunnerfeldt.
Upon its release in June 2004, the song reached number 13 in the United Kingdom, number 15 in Sweden, and number 18 in Norway. It also reached number 19 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
Music video
The video takes place in a white room with crossword puzzle designs on the wall. Before the music starts, there's a sign with a large "!", the Hives appear. In the middle of the music video, Pelle Almqvist begins to walk on the wall, as he steps on the crossword designs, letters appear soon after, reading "Walk Idiot Walk".
In popular culture
It was featured in a season 4 episode, "Jinx", of Smallville. It was used in the season two episode, "My Mother the Fiend" of Veronica Mars. It was used as the theme song for the 2004 WWE Raw Diva Search which later became the theme to former Diva Search winner and TNA Knockout, Christy Hemme. The main riff is similar to that of The Who's "I Can't Explain", and even more similar to Sonic 2's Metropolis Zone. The song also features in Guitar Rock Tour.
"Hate to Say I Told You So" is the first single from Swedish rock band the Hives' second studio album, Veni Vidi Vicious. It was released as a single in Sweden on 20 November 2000 and was later released in several countries in 2002.
It is considered by many as the Hives' signature song.
"Tick Tick Boom" is a single by Swedish rock band the Hives, released in 2007. It is the opening track to The Black and White Album and is the first single taken from that album.
"Tick Tick Boom" was released on 8 October 2007.
Music video
Two music videos exist for this song. The video directed by Kalle Haglund stars the Hives as giant statues in Stockholm's Liljevalchs konsthall, who eventually destroy the museum on the song's final "Boom". In the video, the Hives wear fashion suits with white dress shoes. The second version is of a staged live performance of the song, part of which was featured in the Nike/Finish Line commercial.
In popular culture
The song was once the goal song for Vancouver Canucks defenseman Alex Edler in the 2015–16 NHL season, as the Canucks began using player-specific goal songs.
