In one of the busiest Fridays for good albums this year leave space for The Hives.

We all know that Abba are not the best band from Sweden, that accolade goes to The Hives, making amazing rock music since 1993. After their fifth album, Lex Hives, in 2012 they didn’t make another album until 2023. The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons was a high-quality comeback and The Hives Forever Forever The Hives carries on in the same rich vein.

‘Enough is Enough’ is crafted from the same high quality materials that made their quintessential classic ‘Hate To Say I Told You So.’ The Hives have never gone in for subtlety, they make up for it with a total understanding of what makes rock music great, and this is a great track. The foot stays firmly on the pedal for ‘Hooray Hooray Hooray.’

‘Paint a Picture’ is one of the best singles they have ever made. The tempo change in the chorus is sheer genius.

‘O.C.D.O.D.’ recalls the White Stripes at their most visceral. Because there weren’t already enough brilliant singles on this album they gave us ‘Legalize Living’ which is another catchy as hell track.

After a series of equally great tracks we reach the upbeat manifesto of an ending, ‘The Hives Forever Forever The Hives.’ The Hives have always worked because they seem like they are having a massive amount of fun, which becomes infectious. With its repeated statement this is another slab of simplistic fun that in their hands is more than the sum of its parts.

This is 33 minutes of scintillating garage rock from one of the premier acts to grace the genre. Utterly thrilling. We are off to watch them for the first time at Alexandra Palace in November. It promises to be an exceptional evening.