蜂窝乐团

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 (lead guitar, backing vocals), Vigilante Carlstroem (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), 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 (known in The Hives as The Johan and Only), the bassist for Randy.

The Hives have released seven studio albums: Barely Legal (1997), Veni Vidi Vicious (2000), Tyrannosaurus Hives (2004), The Black and White Album (2007), Lex Hives (2012), The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons (2023), and The Hives Forever Forever The Hives (2025). They have also released the compilation album Your New Favourite Band (2001), the live DVD Tussles in Brussels (2005), and the live album Live at Third Man Records (2020). Their mainstream success came with the release of Veni Vidi Vicious and its single "Hate to Say I Told You So", considered their signature song. They are known for always dressing in matching black-and-white tuxedos and for their energetic and eccentric live shows, with critics hailing them as one of the best live rock bands of the last two decades.

History

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 band went by the name Hives for some time before they realized that "all good band names are plurals", and added a 'the' to their name.

The band's first recording was a 1994 demo titled Sounds Like Sushi. In 1995, the band signed with Burning Heart Records, a Swedish independent record label. The following year they released their debut EP Oh Lord! When? How? In 1997, the band released their debut studio album, Barely Legal, and embarked on a tour in support of it. The Barely Legal track "The Stomp" was later featured on the soundtrack of the film RocknRolla. The band's early releases would be marked by the influence of such bands as Rancid, New Bomb Turks, Turbonegro, and Dead Kennedys.

In 1998, the band released their second EP, A.K.A. I-D-I-O-T. Burning Heart signed a deal with Epitaph Records to distribute the band's material in the United States during that same year.