The well-dressed Hives are currently trying on a new type of suit. An L.A. musician has just filed a lawsuit against the Swedish rock outfit, claiming they have plagiarized one of his songs. The main offender? The Hives "Tick Tick Boom, which is the lead-off track on last years The Black and White Album.
The musician behind the lawsuit, Celebrity Skin guitarist Jason Shapiro, told L.A. Weekly that the Hives track is a carbon copy of his song "Why You?, which he recorded with his band the Roofies in 1997 and again in 2002 with another act, Three Way. "I absolutely love the Hives and dont feel great about suing a band I love. But I also feel credit is due where it is due if you borrow a riff, said Shapiro, who discovered the striking similarities between the songs not because hes such a big fan and all but after friends heard "Tick Tick Boom in the movie trailer for this years Get Smart and brought it to his attention.
To support the claims of plagiarism, Shapiro told L.A. Weekly that he brought the two songs to a musicologist for analysis. "He said the part in question the main riff and vocal melody was very similar and its uniqueness led him to believe it wasn't just a coincidence, Shapiro said. "He also runs it through a background test seeing if any charts from previous songs are close and we were clear on that front.
To judge for yourself if the Hives are in fact plagiarizing, here are the two tracks in question:
The Hives "Tick Tick Boom
The Roofies "Why You?"
The musician behind the lawsuit, Celebrity Skin guitarist Jason Shapiro, told L.A. Weekly that the Hives track is a carbon copy of his song "Why You?, which he recorded with his band the Roofies in 1997 and again in 2002 with another act, Three Way. "I absolutely love the Hives and dont feel great about suing a band I love. But I also feel credit is due where it is due if you borrow a riff, said Shapiro, who discovered the striking similarities between the songs not because hes such a big fan and all but after friends heard "Tick Tick Boom in the movie trailer for this years Get Smart and brought it to his attention.
To support the claims of plagiarism, Shapiro told L.A. Weekly that he brought the two songs to a musicologist for analysis. "He said the part in question the main riff and vocal melody was very similar and its uniqueness led him to believe it wasn't just a coincidence, Shapiro said. "He also runs it through a background test seeing if any charts from previous songs are close and we were clear on that front.
To judge for yourself if the Hives are in fact plagiarizing, here are the two tracks in question:
The Hives "Tick Tick Boom
The Roofies "Why You?"
