Album number four for these Sweedish monochrome punks finds them tweaking their sound a bit to make them a tad more slickly commercial and radio friendly, but generally this is still the type of Hives album that will sit well with older fans.

The Black and White Album starts off fast and ferocious like any other Hives release with the infectious first single "Tick Tick Boom" and even the polished, AC/DC-esque "Hey Little World" working to perfection. But where this album drags is when Howlin' Pelle Almqvist and the lot try too hard to work outside of their comfortable three-chord confines.

"T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S." is an awful attempt at trying to make a Prince sound-alike song and the bizarre "Giddy Up!" is obviously reaching for Devo-style weirdness, but it ends up as just being obnoxious. Yet when The Hives move back to material that harkens back to The Ramones with "Return the Favour" they get back in good graces of the listener. The Black and White Album is The Hives' weakest release to date, but it's still a more than serviceable record for people who have enjoyed their previous work.