"Hate to Say I Told You So"

The Hives - "Hate to Say I Told You So" (2000)

Shares some similar chord changes with "All Day and All of the Night"  by The Kinks, a song conspicuously missing from the book, even though they did include a total of five other songs by the English rock band.



In the later half of 2001 an old style of rock music swept across the American landscape. Lo-fi was king again as garage rock had a revival. Bands that had been paying their dues for years, touring and recording finally got national acclaim. The White Stripes released White Blood Cells in July, and at the same time The Vines were recording Highly Evolved. The Strokes released Is This It later that year. All three bands had some regional success, but the new stuff that they recorded and released in 2001 was often heralded in the press as 'the saviors of rock' or something like it. But the most convoluted rise to the top of the charts of the so called "The" bands has to be The Hives and their album Veni Vidi Vicious. It was recorded in their native Sweden in 1999 and released in 2000. No one in America noticed. They released a greatest hits album in 2001/2002 which contained this track and rock fans who were eating up anything that sounded like garage rock went back and started buying their 2000 album.

Kicks off with a little Stereo fun, with the opening guitar only coming in the right channel and the whole song taking a few seconds to find both channels. The song intentionally has a lot in common with early Rolling Stones howlers like " I Just Want to Make Love to You" "It's All Over Now". Two guitars, simple drums and a charismatic front man who jumps around the stage and shouts. Plus they all wear suits. On the other hand, the bass is very different, providing a heavier bottom sound and even getting a chance in the spotlight around two minutes in. He doesn't do much with it, but at least it shines on him.  Also different is the spacey swooshing sounds going on through the sound that actually distract from the whole and make it less Lo-fi than hits from the other "The" bands, but damn if a easy to remember and sing along with chorus didn't make up for any little shortcomings.