Spanning twelve tracks and coming in at just under 32 minutes, the band’s sixth studio LP boasts all the ingredients of a classic punk record: short but sweet, The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons doesn’t muck about or take itself too seriously, prioritising raw energy over flashy embellishments. This back-to-basics approach is where The Hives’ appeal lies; never ones to shy away from the more wacky aspects of rock, the group have always exhibited a fun-loving attitude their audiences find irresistible.

Listen to “Bogus Operandi“:

The new album, however, comes at a loss: Randy Fitzsimmons, the band’s mysterious fictional mentor and sole songwriter, has apparently died. This new development in the self-scribed Hives backstory sees the limelight-shunning Fitzsimmons helping out beyond the grave, providing the remaining members with demo tapes, fresh suits and a title for the new record.

In honour of his memory, and to celebrate the release of The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons, The Hives recently performed a ceremonial gig at London’s Rough Trade East – the iconic independent  record shop and live music venue that has been hosting legendary shows since its 2007 opening – where they gave their sixth member a proper send-off. 

In true Hives fashion, the band pulled up outside the store in a customised hearse – complete with coffin and decorative flowers – in order to pay their respects to a man they claim to owe their entire discography to, before taking to the Rough Trade stage and bashing out their classic concoction of rock and roll swagger. The group then bid their final farewells in similar fashion at Banquet Records a day later. 

Check out The Hive’s unusual Rough Trade East entrance below:

@the.hives chat is this real? have they died? #thehives #thedeathofrandyfitzsimmons #rock #funeral ♬ original sound – monkemanpoo

The Hives first crashed onto the scene during the short-lived garage rock revival of the early 2000s, which saw rough-and-ready guitar bands such as The Strokes, The White Stripes and The Libertines achieve mainstream success with a gritty, punk-inspired sound. By the time The Hives had landed their first major hit with “Hate To Say I Told You So”, the group had been going for eight years.

Since then, they have sold out stadiums and shared stages with everyone from AC/DC to The Rolling Stones. Spin dubbed The Hives “the best live band on the planet” and Howlin’ Pelle, their lead singer, “one of the greatest frontmen in rock”, while the BBC described them as “a force of nature”.
The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons marks the long-awaited return for a group that has most recently been making waves as the frenetic support act for Arctic Monkeys on their European arena tour.

Next year, The Hives take their own show to 12 cities across the UK and Ireland.
See below for dates:

27/03/2024 – Leeds Academy – Leeds
28/03 – City Hall – Newcastle
29/03 – Rock City – Nottingham
30/03 – The Halls – Wolverhampton
01/04 – Barrowland – Glasgow
02/04 – O2 Academy – Bristol
03/04 – Brighton Dome – Brighton
05/04 – Great Hall – Cardiff
06/04 – Manchester Academy – Manchester
08/04 – Olympia – Dublin
10/04 – The LCR – Norwich
13/04 – Eventim Apollo – London

Get tickets here.

Listen to The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons here.

The singer will be performing two intimate shows in New York – one in Queens and one in Brooklyn – later this month. He will make his debut UK performance in London on the 9^th May at Here at Outernet and will return the following evening for a second show.

As ever with the tricksy musician, getting your hands on tickets is not as simple as just purchasing them. Tickets to the dates are exclusively accessible through a ballot on his cyber maze of a website. Fans need to register by 10 am BST on the 3^rd May for London shows to be in with a chance of winning tickets and only a maximum of two tickets are available per person. The winners will be announced the following day. For the link to the artist’s website (and tickets) see here.

Last Saturday (the 15^th April) the California dessert hosted a historic event with the mysterious and flighty singer making his debut live performance at Coachella festival much to the millennial crowd and former MySpace users’ delight.

jai paul
coachella
first ever performance pic.twitter.com/y1vFCS055T

— Brownies & Lemonade (@TeamBandL) April 16, 2023

The first live performance from Jai Paul will remain shrouded in mystery for those not in attendance as it was not officially live-streamed by the festival, unlike other acts on the line-up. Thankfully, fan-recorded footage of the concert is circulating the internet. Jai was joined on stage by his brother A.K. Paul who played guitar for the performance.

The artist shared a message on Reddit ahead of the concert for his cult fans writing, “this weekend I’m gonna be playing my first ever live show and Im not gonna lie I am absolutely shitting it”. He added, “Hopefully it’s all gonna be worth it”.

Yoo it’s Jai
by u/aat_naabat in jaipaul

Jai Paul will also be performing next weekend for the second weekend of Coachella.

See below for the setlist for his debut performance:

“Higher Res”
“He”
“Crush” (Jennifer Page Cover)
“100,000”
“So Long”
“Chix”
“All Night”
“Do You Love Her Now”
“Jasmine”
“BTSTU”
“St8 Outta Mumbai”

The musician from Rayners Lane, London first gained notoriety in 2007 when his demo “BTSTU”, which Paul had posted on his MySpace, began receiving attention on music blogs. This led to the singer being signed to XL Recordings, international press coverage, extensive radio play, and the song being sampled by both Drake and Beyoncé. His second 2012 demo “Jasmine (demo)” received similar acclaim. However, after his aborted debut album Bait Ones was leaked by an unknown source in 2013 Paul took a hiatus from music struggling to deal with the rumours of his own responsibility for the leak.

In 2016, Jai returned to the public eye launching the record label Paul Institute alongside his brother. His leaked LP was officially released under the title Leak 04-13 (Bait Ones) in 2019 with a new double single “Do You Love Her Now / He” as the B-side to the album.

See below for Jai Paul’s London dates:

09/05/23 – Here at Outernet – London
10/05 – Here at Outernet – London