The Hives - 'Tick Tick Boom'

“Yeeahhh, yeeaaaAHHH, YEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH, I was right all along,” boasts Pelle Almqvist with all his usual understated subtlety on The Hives long-awaited comeback single, ‘Tick Tick Boom.’ Never ones to do things by halves – especially when it comes to lead singles – ‘Tick Tick Boom’ is The Hives at their most brutally bombastic. With a drumbeat that’s more relentless than Peaches Geldof's ongoing attempt to achieve a totally monopoly of the tabloid press and funk-punk guitars that drill a hole through your ear drums, this is the sound of a band trying to make everyone else believe their message that they are the rulers of our fair land.

Like any Hives record, ‘Tick Tick Boom,’ is not to be over analysed, however. Break it down and you’ll soon realise that it’s just a collection of four word phrases pieced together through their ability to rhyme as apposed to actually meaning anything. But, like every Hives record, when attached to the band’s frenetic and fast paced smash-and-grab composition they work innately. Were The Hives right all along? Well, they’re going a long way to prove it.

Released 08/10/07 on Polydor.