The Hives:Real Deal or just a tease???

I've got the White Stripes disc and thought it was decent overall. Kind of a cross between sarcastic 60's rock ( Kinks, etc.. ) and minimalist punk of the 70's / 80's. was going to pick up the Hives disc soon, so thanks for the affirmation. The little bit that i've heard of the Strokes didn't really do anything for me. Seems like we're on the same page as far as that goes.

I think that music and influences come in cycles. Just as you think something is "old" and part of "history", someone "re-discovers" it and introduces it back into society. Fashion is somewhat the same way. The cycles come and go and may only affect part of the market for a short period of time, but sometimes it's nice to be able to reminisce AND be "current" at the same time : )

As to how all of this is coming about, look at the age of the average record executive, etc... They probably long for the days of their youth and are recruiting bands that have the capabilities to remind them of "the good old days". How long this will last is anybody's guess. As to me, i'll try and pick out the cream of the crop and go along for the ride. Sean
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Yeah...it's definitely a trend. Trends seem to come and go pretty quick these days, so it will eventually end. These are all bands of 20-somethings who discovered the music that some of us grew up with (or maybe even some of your kids). I enjoy the albums mentioned above, but they're all a little too derivative for my taste. The Strokes are nothing more than regurgitated early Lou Reed/Velvet Underground/Television with distorted vocals. The White Stripes have more variety, but every song sounds exactly like someone...whether it's the Kinks, Zeppelin, etc. (right down to the British accent...and they're from Detroit). The Hives are nothing but The Stooges revisited. I'm not saying that they're not all fun, energetic rock bands...I just don't think there's much originality in any of them. As far as similar new bands go, you might want to check out The Vines, The Mooney Suzuki, and there are probably about a hundred more that I'm forgetting. And since it is a trend, there will probably be a hundred more tomorrow. The record labels will be happy to shove the most marketable of the lot down your throat, so I'm sure you'll be hearing about more of them in the future...at least you will until the next trend comes and all of the new bands begin to sound exactly like Duran Duran, John Waite, and A Flock Of Seagulls.

The White Stripes sound like the proto-Kinks,proto-Rolling Stones, proto-Animals but sound EXACTLY like the Jeff Beck version of the Yardbirds ( no proto-). Actually the CD is a history of the 60s electric garage bands. Still most of the songs are interesting.One song (track 7), starts out Jethro Tull's Aqualung, goes to the Rolling Stones, then to George Thorogood and back again. St James Infirmary was a hoot too!!! After spending 6 hours listening to these CDs in my car today, I agree The Hives will probably be one shot wonders. The next phase will be the kids discovering Led Zepp. Hey, we need a new version of Stairway to Heaven. You say the White Stripes are from Detroit, I did not really hear Mitch Rider and the Detroit Wheels, maybe their next CD. Jenny Take A Ride anyone????

Reminds me of my 12 year old son explaining to me how he likes "punk". I cued up the Sex Pistols and the Ramones and let him hear punk for himself. He informed me that was old grunge, punk was now and had nothing to the black things spinning around on my Oracle! Heathen swine, I sent him to his room until he's 25

HA HA HA !!! I would've loved to see / hear your sons reaction Jeff : ) There's something about playing the Pistols on an Oracle with thousands of dollars of support gear behind it that just doesn't seem "right" though. Have we become "the establishment" ??? : ) Sean
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PS... Just to make sure "kids" think i'm still "hip", i'm going to go out tomorrow to get my tongue and nose pierced and have those big "tribal holes" installed in my earlobes. A few strategically placed tattoos might help too. Just to put me over the top, i'm going to start start spitting a lot and using the words "like" and "man" a lot. Ya know what i mean, man ? Like wow, man. I'll show them.... : )

There does seem to be a movement back to 70s rock style. Some of us (new) old farts were talking about what our kids are listening to. Sounds like they are not just listening to the new music with the old sound but they are discovering the old stuff. The stuff they would not listen to because it was not "their music". By the way, we were standing around the BBQ with "Mountain Climbing" blasting and looking at the "Chunga's Revenge" album cover at the time.

If you like the '60's psychedelic stuff, you should try a band called "Plastic-land". They were around in the '80s and had a sound like the 13th Floor Elevators. Except without the "Duk-a-duk-a-duk-a-doo". If you know the 13th Flr. Elevators, you know what that means. Plastic Land did a song called "Trap-Door Shoes" that really hit the nail on the head.