The Hives are very nearly a perfect pop band. They come from Sweden, the greatest per capita pop nation on Earth. They look so fabulous that even huge band mates can't spoil the effect. They really, really love their job. And their song titles alone reveal more wit and imagination than the entire career of Oasis. Sigh. If only their albums were a bit better.
On "Tyrannosaurus Hives" the Swedes tackle a bewildering range of musical styles, from epic prog to blessed-out balladry to hardcore techno. Only joking! It is, of course, made up of the exact same amphetamine-fuelled, staccato punk as their last two albums and which seems to be their solitary songwriting mode. Their discipline is admirable, and they really can play, but still. This record feels like being strapped into a car and driven at full speed around North London. It's initially thrilling, but soon everything seems like more of the same.
Let's start with the thrills, notably the terrifically titled opener "Abra Cadaver". A mechanical maniac of a song marked out by a frantic bass line and Pelle Almqvist's lunatic cry "they tried to stick a dead body inside of me!", it's a welcome reminder that whilst The Hives only ever write one song, at least it's a good one. When it is rapidly followed by "Two Timing Touch and Broken Bones", a similarly frothing, bug eyed punker, it's difficult to avoid excitement.
Unfortunately, the single "Walk, Idiot, Walk" scuppers the mood. It has that pounding bass line and a deliciously crunchy riff, but never really builds upon them. Franz Ferdinand once had a very similar riff, but they turned it into "Take Me Out". The Hives seem incapable of the same creative leap. Indeed, on straight-ahead rockers like "No Pun Intended" and "See Through Head" The Hives are boring, surely the one thing they should never, ever be.
There are other pleasures here, if you take the time to find them. "Love In Plaster" has a melancholic, Buzzcocks undertone and a genuine, proper chorus, while "Diabolic Scheme" is all twitches and angst, the comedown after the previous speed thrills.
"Tyrannosaurus Hives" is a good record, but one best dipped into rather than listened to in one go. That's why you will hear it advertising new Channel 4 programmes more often than in pubs or at friend's houses. The Hives are going to have to have a rethink if they want to avoid that fate.
