The Hives were the hot thing from Sweden long before people like Jens Lekman, Jose Gonzales and The Sounds revived indie rock's love affair with the region. But the U.S.'s interest in The Hives didn't stem from their country of origin; it was initiated by their original take on an old sound that, at the time, was like a fresh breath of raw, sweaty, dangerously clever air.

Hailed as garage rock revivalists after the release of 2000's "Veni Vidi Vicious," The Hives were heralded as heroes of this "new" genre. "Tyrannosaurus Hives" gave us a little more of the same four years later, and now, almost another four years later, we are presented with their latest on Interscope Records, "The Black and White Album."

A new record, of course, means a tour, and yes, they're coming to Milwaukee. Tomorrow, actually, at The Rave. The show starts at 8 p.m.

Frontman Howlin' Pelle Almqvist is as infamously enigmatic as he is energetic and an evening with him almost always promises surprises. We recently caught up with the elder of the two Almqvist brothers, guitarist Niklas, a.k.a. Nicholaus Arson, to find out what he and his fellow dapper dudes of rock and roll have to say for themselves.

OnMilwaukee.com: All the band members use aliases. Do they imply musical alter egos that aren't employed unless on stage?

Nicholaus Arson: Maybe, in a way. Most of all, you have to earn your name, though. Howlin' Pelle (Almqvist) howls, Nick Arson, i.e. me, is on fire.

OMC: You previously worked with Timbaland and for the new record you worked with Pharrell Williams, who is primarily known for producing huge pop and hip-hop hits. How did he influenced the music and the whole dynamic of The Hives?

NA: It’s like he throws 500 pancakes on the ceiling and sees what sticks. Whereas, we would have one pancake and work on it forever. We wrote one song with him in seven minutes. He’s always on the edge of his seat, doing stuff on the phone while he’s writing a song -- maybe opening a restaurant in Japan, or starting a clothes line in South America. For five minutes he wants to sound like Stevie Wonder, then he’s onto something else.

I think we learned how to work in a different manner in the studio -- listen to what is recorded more so than look for a vibe in a take. If it sounds good thru the speakers chances are its good.

OMC: Do you think the band has been able to escape its "garage rock revival" reputation?

NA: Don't know if we ever had that label anywhere else but in the media? I think we were considered "too punk" for most garage rock librarians but I think we escaped the worst pitfall, which is making music you yourself are not excited about.

OMC: But did you ever find that label accurate?

NA: Yeah, like said, I'm not sure if we really had that label to begin with. We've been lumped in with all kinds of scenes and the garage rock revival was just one of them. The new sound hype, though, made us rich -- more expensive records, bigger houses, faster cars.

OMC: Your songs are used in a serious number of commercials, TV shows, trailers and video games. There was a time when moves like that was considered "selling out," but it seems the attitude on the issue has changed over the last five or so years. What are your thoughts? It is even a debate anymore for "indie" bands?

NA: I don't know. We always had trouble selling our music for commercial use and we still only OK about five percent of the requests. Nowadays, though, that debate has faded as bands mostly see it as a way to get played on TV when MTV is doing "Big Brother" type shows instead of playing music.