If there’s a red carpet anywhere in the rock world right now, The Hives are kicking the doors open and strutting straight down the middle of it.
The band have just dropped a wild new stop-motion animation video for their latest anthem, Roll Out The Red Carpet, and it’s exactly the kind of unhinged, high-energy spectacle you’d expect from the self-proclaimed best live band on the planet. Directed by artist Cissi Efraimsson, the clip leans fully into surreal, handmade chaos—perfectly matching the song’s full-throttle swagger.
The video arrives hot on the heels of the band’s most recent album, ‘The Hives Forever Forever The Hives,’ out now via Play It Again Sam. The record has been absolutely showered with praise, hailed as a career-high release and a love letter to garage rock’s glorious past—with critics lining up to call it everything from “a mighty release” to “another fiery debut.”
Fresh off a massive run of sold-out Latin American stadium shows with My Chemical Romance, The Hives sound louder, sharper, and more unhinged than ever. The album was crafted in Sweden alongside producer Pelle Gunnerfeldtand Mike D of Beastie Boys, and it shows—every track hits with intent, sweat, and sneer.
Singles like Enough Is Enough, Paint A Picture, and Legalize Living have already cemented themselves as modern Hives classics, while Roll Out The Red Carpet feels like a victory lap taken at full sprint.
Critics agree. The New York Times praised their “swaggering Swedish punk” energy, while The Needle Drop called it their most consistent work in years. Love has also poured in from AV Club, Grammy.com, Paste, FLOOD, Exclaim, and Northern Transmissions.
And yes—North America is next. The band are gearing up for an East Coast and Midwest tour with support from Australian punk wrecking crew The Chats, with multiple dates already sold out. If you’ve ever seen The Hives live, you know this is not the kind of show you casually “catch.” It’s an event. A workout. A religious experience involving sweat and guitar feedback.
The current era has seen the band fully embrace their royal rock iconography, from lavish visuals to historic performances—appearing everywhere from Later… with Jools Holland to BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 6 Music, and ARTE, plus a memorable performance at New York’s Rockefeller Centre. The title track video was even filmed inside Stockholm City Hall—a first for any music video.
Three decades deep, The Hives—Howlin’ Pelle, Chris Dangerous, The Johan And Only, Nicholaus Arson, and Vigilante Carlstroem—remain a force of nature. They’ve shared stages with AC/DC and The Rolling Stones, earned praise from Rolling Stone and Pitchfork, and were once famously declared by Joe Strummer to have saved rock ’n’ roll.
Big words. Bigger riffs. Bigger energy.
Roll out the red carpet indeed.
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