In House With the Hives: Swedish Rockers Outlaw Crying, Whining and Silence -- Exclusive Video

When the Hives tell you they're the greatest band in the world, they're not being arrogant pricks: That's just how high they set the bar for themselves, their shows and their upcoming album, Lex Hives, which comes five years after their last LP.

"Taking a long time between records, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, because if you take a long time, and it starts to feel like a long time, then the album really has to be good," frontman Howlin' Pelle Almqvist says while seated on a couch in Spinner's New York office, flanked by his four bandmates.

"There's a bunch of stuff that needs to happen for a record to get done, and I think all of us wanted the record to be so good that it just had to take a good amount of time," adds drummer Chris Dangerous.

Production and Videography by Elizabeth Bruneau

As the band describes it, Lex Hives "is a phrase derived from the ancient Roman practice of enacting a system or body of laws and accepting them as a standard." When pressed about the meaning, the Swedish rockers are more than happy to elaborate on what that actually means when it comes to music.

"It's basically the laws of the Hives," says guitarist Nicholaus Arson. "What constitutes a great band? What makes the Hives great? And then you apply those laws, in absurdum."

With that in mind, the Hives have a few laws they'd like to see enacted when it comes to their audience.

"Never be quiet," says Dangerous.

"We don't like silence, because then we can hear the ringing in our ears, so we have to constantly be playing or the audience has to be screaming," Pelle quickly adds. "Or I have to be screaming into the microphone. I think the hatred of silence is really at the core of what we do."

The Hives Visit Spinner & Rock Out in NYC

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• The Hives, Live in New York
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But the band is not about hatred or anything negative. As Dangerous informs us, "You're not allowed to cry if it's not out of joy. No sad crying."

"There are too many bands that do that these days: Whining and crying. Whining and crying again," Pelle says, refusing to name any names. (We have our guesses.)

Naturally, we ask if people ever cry at their shows, and Dangerous quickly replies, "Out of joy, absolutely. It happens every night."

And as for their grandiose ways, onstage and off, we have to ask: Do any bands ever come up to them and say, "You're not the best. We are"?

Almqvist's response is simple: "No. People know better than to do that."

Lex Hives is due out June 5. Check out video above of the Hives taking over New York City, and stay tuned for more from their awesome visit to our office.