The Hives- Veni Vidi Viscious

Those crazy Swedes... The Hives are a raw garage rock band, who came to prominence thanks to this second album released in 2000.  Soon after this album, the garage rock revival was in full swing. But while the other bands took the artform very seriously (eg The Strokes), The Hives stuck with a more whimsical approach.

On a personal note, I was really getting into this album as the September 11 attacks happened. Immediately after the attacks, panic and chaos reigned, and many people feared that it was the start of World War 3. Scary times.

On to the album itself... well, the tongue is very firmly planted in cheek! There are some interesting concepts raised in the lyrics (corporate greed, consumerism, metric quantities of time), however the attitude presented is like a petulant toddler. And that's what I love about it. Comparing them to Ramones is a big call, but I definitely enjoy The Hives every bit as much. And with an album length of 28 minutes, brevity is another common aspect.

The album flies along at breakneck pace, with the more sedate Main Offender, Hate To Say I Told You So and Find Another Girl probably included just to give the listener a break from the onslaught. I really enjoy the lyrics, however some people might find the howling (not screaming, but definitely strained), "retro-distorted" vocal style to be annoying. Also, the recording style is rough and noisy. So much so that I find it harsh rather than enjoyable when the volume is cranked.

The opener Declare Guerre Nucleaire serves as a declaration of intent- it is short, fast, raw and the lyrics make no sense! Die, All Right! is my favourite song on the album, to me it is a very slick pop song with "up yours!!" lyrics and a very catchy chorus. The following songs are similar, but somehow with even more frantic pace and attitude: A Get Together To Tear It Apart, Outsmarted, Metric System in Time, Statecontrol and Knock Knock.

Main Offender, Inspection Wise 1999 and Supply and Demand are a slower pact, but the attitude and rawness remains cranked to eleven. Arguably the band's most famous song, Hate to Say I Told You So, is another catchy pop tune which remains relatively civilised until the raucous ending.

I really enjoy this album, the clever lyrics and occasional moments of pop slickness suggests they have the skills to make great "sensible"music if they wanted to. But they don't! Kinda summed up by this line from Die All Right:
Too messed up to sit and settle down
Too messed up to even mess around

Favourite songs

"Die, All Right!", Main Offender, Outsmarted, Hate to Say I Told You So, Metric System in Time, State Control, Inspection Wise 1999, Knock Knock, Supply and Demand

Would I buy it again?

Hell yeah! It's rough as guts, but full of wonderful energy and attitude.

Epilogue: At the time of reviewing Lex Hives (2.5 years later), I thought it would be interesting to compare the two albums. Lex Hives is definitely a far more polished effort and the prime suspect is the recording quality- Lex Hives is hardly a homogeneous pop-rock effort, but Veni Vidi Viscious can be downright harsh at times. In common are the woofly kick-drum and bass guitar, and the harsh-ish guitar sounds. Occasionally, the cymbals also have a jarring sound. But I think the main difference is in the vocals- for Lex Hives, they are quieter and less grating. This also applies to the backing vocals. Listening back-to-back, I was actually surprised that the difference in recording quality was far less than expected.

Therefore I think the more polished feel of Lex Hives is mostly down to the recording of the vocals, and possibly the greater stylistic range in the songs. So, which is my favourite Hives album? Both!