Barely Legal (25th Anniversary Edition) vinyl

Short and definitely not sweet, instead rowdy, shouty, driving and thoroughly unapologetic, The Hives' debut studio album, Barely Legal wasn't exactly breaking any moulds with its garage punk sound in 1997. In fact, punk derivatives were pretty dominant in the mainstream - for better or worse - around that time. Nevertheless, the Swedish riot-starters did bring something refreshing to what was fast becoming a pretty played out global guitar scene - authenticity. Listening back now, 25 years on, and while the pop end of the punk rock spectrum then can often now sound horribly manufactured, the industry's sick and twisted attempt to convince cash-happy teens an underground existed where in fact there was only commercial opportunism, here there's a vital sense of being soaked in spittle on the front row of a booze-stinking back room, frenzy on stage and in the pit. A feeling that can't be bought because those capable of creating it have always owned it.