The Hives - The Black And White Album (CD)

It was sometime early in 2002 that the rock and roll uniform cemented its comeback. An indie duo from Detroit named the White Stripes was seeing its third album, White Blood Cells, start to pick up speed, helped in no small part by intriguing peppermint-colored costumes. Jack and Meg White even looked weirdly alike, as though their DNA, too, had a dress code. And over in Sweden, an erstwhile punky bunch, the Hives, was dressing up in '60s-style mod suits. With his skinny tie and wide eyes, frontman Pelle Almqvist looked like the young Mick Jagger's kid brother.

There was good musical reason for all the closet raiding. Both bands were making a statement about what they intended with their rock. To put it simply, each group, in its way, wanted to bring back the "roll" part. Dressing like folks had when the music was only a decade old, they pretended to ignore all that happened since. But for the Hives, in particular, that was a ruse. With its ragged blues licks and spittle lyrics, Veni Vidi Vicious was "early rock" as reconstructed by punk students.

On new album The Black And White Album, the group prove more eclectic historians, mashing together everything from sneering '70s art-rock to '80s post-punk, with solid doses of Bowie and even Floyd involved. It's an extremely ambitious piece, attempting to remix and reinvent where Vicious and '04 effort Tyrannosaurus Hives most left off at revival. And when it succeeds -- surprisingly often -- it can stun.

"T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S." is one of the true mind-blowers. Imagine an outtake from The Wall. Now imagine it produced by Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes. You read that right: hip-hop's premier boardsmith has jumped in with rock's biggest defenders. The result is a syncopated, neurotic anthem that recalls Blondie -- or perhaps Queen, in that it describes "ruling the world" while evoking a bundle of nerves. "Won't Be Long," too, feels marooned in some strange and pleasurable rock corner, its '80s-era synths and snapping drums an intriguing companion for shiny faux-strings and a chipper hook.

On the other end of the spectrum, lead track "Tick Tick Boom" does right by its time-bomb title with a purist's assault of rock guitars and rugged melody. This is the tune for fans worried that their band has been hijacked by clever rhythm men: a rightward turn of the master-gain nob is the fanciest decision the song makes. Still, rock isolationists shouldn't be scared of the other tricks. After all, the Hives themselves can empathize.