The Hives: Tyrannosaurus Hives

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

Herald rating * * *

Of the bands with a definite article to their name riding the international wave of garage rock, Swedes the Hives may not have been the best, but they at least tried to be the most entertaining.

With the verbal and physical contortions of singer "Howlin"' Pelle Almqvist fronting a band of dodgy-lookin' thick-set guys in a uniform of black and white playing short, sharp instant hits like I Hate to Say I Told You So and Main Offender, they were a model of mod-punk style and Scandinavian precision among a movement of sloppy dressers.

And their second album proper has the added pressure of needing to be the garage-rock bloc's next great offering after disappointments by the Datsuns and the Vines.

It's a 12-track blast stretching to little over half an hour. It is a rare record that understays its welcome.

But if it's in a rush, it does stretch the Hives out in a few new, odd directions whether they're reinterpreting Devo on Two-Timing Touch and Broken Bones or seemingly rewriting Screaming Jay Hawkins' I Put a Spell on You on Diabolic Scheme.

Otherwise, it's one staccato riff-attack after another with a 50/50 hit or miss ratio. Among the more infectious are B is for Brutus, and the Clash-like Dead Quote Olympics and A Little More for Little You. But a few too many tracks sound like energy-burst snappy ideas to punctuate a live set, which leave this album suffering its own bout of ADD.

There's nothing wrong with economical, and Almqvist's nutty lyrics are a comedy sideshow in themselves. But it's just too slight an affair to get all that dressed up for.

THE HIVES: TYRANNOSAURUS HIVES (POLYDOR)

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