INSIDE SPIN EDITOR’S LETTER

Dave Grohl meets some new fans.

Foo for Thought

30^TH ANNIVERSARY

Time Magazine

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of one of the classic albums of all time.

Specially re-packaged for the anniversary

Live At The Rainbow

AVAILABLE NOW AT

i /z

©2007 Universal Music Enterprises, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.

FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, FOO FIGHTERS have been one of rock’s most reliable bands, which some—including some at this very magazine—might say is more of a curse than a blessing. The hobgoblin of little minds? Tell that to AC/DC and the Ramones. Perhaps the Foos’ consistency has something to do with quality control, or maybe you can chalk it up to Dave Grohl’s long-standing reputation as the nicest guy in rock. As he and his bandmates try to balance the demands of diaper duty with those of superstardom, essayist Steve Almond reveals in this month’s cover story (working title: “Poo Fighters,” natch!) that Grohl might also be the most levelheaded. Having recently become a dad myself, I can certainly relate to the push-pull between parental responsibility and the call of the wild. You can guess what wins out 98 percent of the time.

Also in this issue: We travel to Paris to get the story behind the return of the Hives. Still one of the most thrilling live bands around, with the new The Black and White Album, they’ve also become improbably inventive cultural scavengers. (“Hey Little World” suggests a mash-up of the Cops theme and the Sex Pistols’ “Pretty Vacant” as played by Devo. In other words, it’s brilliant.) That the Hives are now willing to dabble in goofball funk and glitchy synth pop proves they’re not above injecting fresh novelty into their previously vacuum-sealed garage-rocking aesthetic (okay, shtick). As frontman “Howlin’ ” Pelle Almqvist tells U.K. correspondent Nick Duerden: “It was time to do something different.”

And now for something not at all that different. A recommendation:
To hear what the Hives might sound like if they came from Finland,
wore beat-up jeans, and nicked a chorus
from ’80s one-Brit-hit wonders Toto
Coelo, go to sweatmaster.net and click
on “Animal.” And then just try to get
that guitar riff out of your head.
You have been warned.

Doug Brod

Editor