This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist has one question for you: Do you love The Hives? Do you? He can’t hear you. He said: Do! You! Love! The Hives!?
Yes, you do. Of course you do. But why do you love The Hives? Because Howlin’ Pelle told you to, that’s why. And Howlin’ Pelle would not lie. Not to you. He told you The Hives would be your new favourite band. And they are. He told you 2000’s Veni Vidi Vicious would be your new favourite LP. And it is.
Or was. Because now The Hives have put out their long-overdue followup. It’s called Tyrannosaurus Hives. Why? Because The Hives are so huge, says Pelle. And it’s going to be your new new favourite LP. Because Pelle and co. understand the golden rule of successful followups: They have made the same album over again — only better.
Most of the 30-minute Tyrannosaurus Hives will not surprise anyone who has heard Main Offender or Hate to Say I Told You So. There are the same fat-free blasts of punky garage-rock. The same choppy guitars. The same chunky riffs. The same irresistible hooks and choruses. The same guaranteed hit singles like Walk Idiot Walk and Abra Cadaver. The same swaggering impudence and Jaggeresque flair from Pelle.
But make no mistake, there are changes afoot. And I’m not talking about the spiffy spats the boys are sporting with their Col. Sanders suits. I’m talking about the fact that Tyrannosaurus Hives backs away ever so slightly from the speedy punk and go-go garage grooves of Veni Vidi Vicious for a new-wave influence apparent in the fuzzed-out bounce of A Little More For Little You and the herky-jerky Two-Timing Touch And Broken Bones, which sounds a little like Devo reimagining The Monkees’ Stepping Stone.
I’m also talking about the cut Diabolic Scheme, a searing blues-punk waltz midway between James Brown and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. Then I’m talking about the smartly syncopated duelling guitars of Vigilante Carlstroem and Nicholaus Arson, with riffs that ping-pong between your speakers with whiplash intensity. And I’m talking about the precision-engineered production that cranks up the fuzz to red-line, speaker-frying extremes.
But that’s all the talking I’m going to do. Because you should not be talking about The Hives. You should be listening to The Hives. Because The Hives are your favourite band. And because Tyrannosaurus Hives is your new favourite LP. At least until the next Hives LP.
If you don’t believe me, just ask Howlin’ Pelle.
