In 2001, former Creation Records boss Alan McGee had the genius idea of 'introducing Swedish garage rock band The Hives to a British audience by cherry picking the best songs from their two albums on Burning Heart Records - 1997's Barely Legal and 2000's Veni Vidi Vicious, plus 1998's A.K.A. I-D-I-O-T EP - and licensing them for release on what was essentially an early 'greatest hits' record, Your New Favourite Band, on his new record label Poptones.
That same year much-hyped New Yorkers The Strokes released their debut album Is This It, and Detroit'ss The White Stripes released their breakthrough album White Blood Cells. Deciding that this constituted a 'movement' despite the fact that the three bands had no connection whatsoever, Britain's cultural gatekeepers then declared that ROCK IS BACK! and elevated all three acts into the spotlight.
"At the time, getting popular in the UK could happen overnight," recalled The Hives' frontman Pelle Almqvist, "which didn’t really happen anywhere else – in the US you’ve got to tour for four years before anyone even hears you. It was fun to have that happen. Becoming famous overnight was like old-school Frank Sinatra, New York New York, it was awesome! You go on television and everyone sees you.”
In a measure of The Hives new-found popularity, their 2001 single Main Offender, which had failed to trouble chart compilers anywhere in the world when released to promote Veni Vidi Vicious, was then chosen to soundtrack a new cinema advert from up-market lingerie company Agent Provocateur, featuring Australian actress and pop star Kylie Minogue. At the time, thanks to the ubiquity of her UK number one singles Spinning Around and Can't Get You Out Of My Head (a chart topper in no fewer than 40 countries worldwide), Minogue might well have been the most popular celebrity in Britain, and through their association with her, The Hives would acquire a whole new audience.
