It seems like ages ago that while sifting through various "The" bands I came upon the pride of Fagersta, Sweden-- The Hives [ tickets ]--on "The Late Show with David Letterman." At the time, I thought the quintet was quite possibly the perfect amalgam of sharp-dressed-man flair and ass-annihilating garage slop, and with "The Black and White Album," they haven't changed my mind much.

They did, however, break some new ground here, and I'm undecided as to how well it worked. When producers Pharell Williams and Jacknife Lee (U2, Editors, R.E.M.) are invited into the garage, things are bound to change.

Certainly, "Tick Tick Boom" doesn't stray very far from the acerbic jangle of their first hit, "Hate To Say I Told You So," and neither do the criss-crossing guitars of "Try It Again." But, with the second track, you sense there is something creeping into the slop, and it's not just the shakers. There's more low end--"The record actually has bass," vocalist Howlin' Pelle Almqvist said in a press release, "it has a bass register, which we never really wanted on our records before"--and a decided effort to make the proceedings danceable.

Not necessarily a bad thing, but the results are mixed. On one hand, you get the fun, zoot-suit swing of "Well All Right!" On the other, you get the bizarre disco funk of "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S." and Talking Heads tech leanings of "Giddy Up!" Almqvist pulls off the swingin' Cab Calloway bit, but the high-pitched delivery of "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S." … well, not so much.

The best results, like with classic AC/DC, are when the band tackles what they do best, like the four-on-the-floor "Return the Favour," the Stooge-y swagger of "Square One Here I Come," and chunky riffs of "You Dress Up for Armageddon." Booty shaking is fine, but The Hives work best when they're all up in your grill telling you why they're your favorite band.