Lex Hives by The Hives

Lex Hives, the fifth studio album from Sweden's Hives, arrived on 1 June 2012 through the band's own Disques Hives along with Universal and Columbia, following The Black and White Album. The title borrows the ancient Roman notion of laying down a body of law as the standard, a fitting bit of grandeur for a band that takes the stage in matching black-and-white tuxedos.

This time the Hives produced themselves, handing the mixing to Andrew Scheps, with Dave Sardy and Joe Zook mixing two tracks and Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme producing the bonus cuts on the deluxe version. The result is garage rock with the fat trimmed: Howlin' Pelle Almqvist yelping like a ringmaster, Nicholaus Arson and Vigilante Carlstroem slashing away, Chris Dangerous keeping it all at a sprint, and "Go Right Ahead" out front. It was the last album with bassist Dr. Matt Destruction, whose health forced him out in late 2013; Johan Gustafsson of Randy took over.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.