The Hives

The Hives were supposedly formed by some mysterious figure named "Randy Fitzsimmons" in 1993, when the band's members were still in high school. It seems unlikely that someone with that name is the mastermind, Svengali or Swedish Malcolm McLaren of the group. Whoever the Fitzsimmons character really is, he's credited...

By Tom Murphy

September 13, 2012

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The Hives were supposedly formed by some mysterious figure named "Randy Fitzsimmons" in 1993, when the band's members were still in high school. It seems unlikely that someone with that name is the mastermind, Svengali or Swedish Malcolm McLaren of the group. Whoever the Fitzsimmons character really is, he's credited with songwriting and various other creative aspects of the Hives, who themselves were part of that wave of garage rock that bubbled up toward the end of the '90s. Wearing matching black-and-white suits, and with their dance moves down cold, the bandmembers are led by frontman Howlin' Pelle Almqvist, who has plenty of classic swagger and charisma coupled with a sense of the tongue-in-cheek. Live, the Hives put on an unforgettable show that transcends all gimmickry.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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