The Hives have made their comeback with their first new music in 11 years.
The Swedish rockers have announced their upcoming album, ‘The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons’, and shared the lead single, ‘Bogus Operandi’.
The follow-up to 2012’s ‘Lex Hives’ is set for release on August 11.
Frontman Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist, 44, has declared that “rock’n’roll can’t grow up”, teasing that the album is like a “perpetual teenager”.
In a statement, he said: “There’s no maturity or anything like that bull****, because who the f*** wants mature rock’n’roll?
“That’s always where people go wrong, I feel. ‘It’s like rock’n’roll but adult,’ nobody wants that! That’s literally taking the good s*** out of it. Rock’n’roll can’t grow up, it is a perpetual teenager and this album feels exactly like that, which it’s all down to our excitement – and you can’t fake that s***.”
The ‘Hate To Say I Told You So’ hitmakers shared the following in a press release: “As the album’s macabre title hints, the band’s extended absence from the studio has been no hiatus but rather a horror story.
“The Hives now admit they have not seen nor spoken to their founder, mentor and songwriter, the perpetual limelight-shunning Randy Fitzsimmons, since the release of 2012’s Lex Hives. Following the recent discovery of a hidden away obituary and cryptic poem in the local paper of the Northern Vastmanland town where The Hives are from, the band members were led to Fitzsimmons’ tombstone.
“Upon digging the freshly interred ground, the band found not a body but instead several tapes, suits, and a piece of paper bearing the words ‘The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons’.”
Randy Fitzsimmons is a pseudonym for Niklas Almqvist, however, the band claims that it’s Randy that writes their songs and manages the group.
Meanwhile, fans can catch the band supporting Arctic Monkeys, and at their own festival shows and in-stores.
Head to TheHives.com for all tour dates.
‘The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons’ track-list:
1. ‘Bogus Operandi’
2. ‘Trapdoor Solution’
3. ‘Countdown To Shutdown’
4. ‘Rigor Mortis Radio’
5. ‘Stick Up’
6. ‘Smoke and Mirrors’
7. ‘Crash Into The Weekend’
8. ‘Two Kinds Of Trouble’
9. ‘The Way The Story Goes’
10. ‘The Bomb’
11. ‘What Did I Ever Do To You?’
12. ‘Step Out Of The Way’