This was the Hive's first serious girlfriend, if you will. We met up with the lead singer Sean McDonald when he was still in his late teens. He showed up at our basement studio, played a few songs on the acoustic and soon after we began production on their first album, Psycho Babylon. We took no money for the album as we wanted to see it get to the audience it deserved, such was the altruistic leanings of the early Hive. Their sound was compared to Beck, Sebadoh, Jane's Addiction and GBV. At the time Lo-Fi was hot and we almost rode that aesthectic to success.
After the first six months of bliss our relationship with them became less than ideal. They got signed to Nettwerk records (career suicide), egos raged, unnecessary rock videos were filmed, drug habits formed and elusive success never materialized. When we started to record the second album nobody was enthused and we felt the band had abandoned their unique sound for a shot at the coveted "radio friendly unit-shifter". Eventually they went to another producer/studio and if you ever lay your ears on that one, you will experience how unfortunate a sophomore album can be.
Psycho Babylon is a classic indie-pop album that Vice Magazine said was "the best release in the History of Nettwerk Records". As a result to it being so unique to the rest of their roster the album has the distinction of being their lowest selling album to date. That record still stands, hallelujah.
Today, Nettwerk still sucks and the album still stands as a testament to what you can do with no money and a lot of drive to get something done. Locked in a Room with death is a perfect indie-pop song that will be remembered years from now.
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