Tick tick boom . . . the Hives are still explosive

If you believe Swedish singer Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist, something’s been missing from music the last few years -- his band, the Hives. “This might be the best we’ve ever been,” the mike-tossing, eyeball-popping, amp-climbing frontman bragged to a capacity Wiltern crowd on Tuesday.

Supreme rock ‘n’ roll confidence is part of this Scandinavian garage quintet’s shtick. But by the end of its explosive 75-minute set, the notion that pop should be ruled by lip-syncing clotheshorses and we’re-so-ironic emo bands was blown clear out of the water.

After a lovingly hard-rocking set by the Donnas, the audience was primed for bigger thrills. Then Almqvist, guitarists Nicholaus Arson and Vigilante Carlstroem, bassist Dr. Matt Destruction, and drummer Chris Dangerous took the stage with fanfare worthy of returning heroes. Their red neon logo sign blazed, the lights came up, and the band launched into the frenetic “You Got It All . . . Wrong,” from its latest collection, “The Black and White Album.”

According to their tradition, the players wore the outfits from that album cover: black suits, the jackets sporting prep-school-style Hives crests and white-tipped lapels, plus white shoes and black-and-white striped ties. But they all soon stripped to their shirt sleeves, because for the high-energy Hives, playing music is hard work, not a fashion show.

Some might call the coordinated clothing and self-aggrandizing banter nothing more than comical throwback kitsch. Sure, the Hives were playful, but they were fully committed.

The set was mostly driven at full-tilt fury, but Almqvist had his moment of blues-rock angst with the howler “Diabolic Scheme.”

Even the more mocking numbers, like the new “You Dress Up for Armageddon,” rang true (“I dress up for fun”).

The Hives’ swampy fusion of punk, ‘60s rock and R&B; did first come to U.S. attention with the turn-of-the-century “garage-rock revival.” You can’t call them dangerous -- after all, they do promo spots for the Cartoon Network, and the new single, “Tick Tick Boom,” is pushing TV’s apocalyptic drama “Jericho.” Yet they’re a more satisfying rock experience than we-don’t-really-mean-it-man poseurs like Fall Out Boy. And if pop is supposed to be disposable and fun, well, a Hives show is far more rewarding than watching pretty people do synchronized dance steps to canned beats while not really singing.

At the Wiltern, the sound was alarmingly muddy at first but improved by the time the 15-year-old group busted out “A Little More for Little You,” one of many selections from its 2004 major label debut, “Tyrannosaurus Hives.” The crowd yelped and clapped to such highlights as the modern-rock hit “Walk Idiot Walk,” the taut “No Pun Intended” and the new-wave rave-up “Won’t Be Long,” plus older favorites “Hate to Say I Told You So” and “Main Offender.”

Still, the band played it safe in a way, offering the uncomplicated new fare, including the swaggering “Tick Tick Boom,” rather than more experimental tunes from “B&W.;” Almqvist didn’t even plug the album until well into the set. He explained this lapse with characteristic poise: “I’ve been busy being fantastic.”