In a place they say is dead
in the lake that's like an ocean
i count about a billion head
all the time
there's a motion
palace of the brine
i saw the cloning
of the famous family
i heard the droning
in the shrine
of the sea-monkey
palace of the brine
beneath reflections in the fountain
the starry sky and utah mountains
they are swimming happily
can't you see
a life that's so sublime
palace of the brine.

Listening to 'Tyrannosaurus Hives' is like playing a game of Your New Favourite Song. Is it 'Abra Cadaver''s psychedelic stomp? Is it 'B Is For Brutus' with its fuzzy riff that sounds like a swarm of bees eating Square Crisps? Is it that first single? 'Walk Idiot Walk' is clearly touched by the god of pop. And, at three minutes and 31, is the longest track on the album by over ten per cent. 'See Through Head' mixes the Pixies with Buggles, but Pelle has a more powerful yelp than Black Francis ever had - proof that the meatball is mightier than the cheeseburger - while 'Dead Quote Olympics' revisits the provincial punk of Sham 69.

English is not The Hives' first language, yet their lyrics sound fascinating. You can't really work out exactly what's being sung. But it sounds like something of life-or-death importance to Pelle. When he sings "the dead quote Olympics" it sounds like "the deaf dumb Olympics". "Two-timing touch and broken bones" might as well be "too dumb, and Dutch, and broken bones".

It doesn't matter. This isn't poetry. Pelle howls great words like "poison!" and "violation!" and they fit with the rhythm.

Most people who bought 'Your New Favourite Band' listened to it relentlessly for a month. And then didn't listen to it again. The same could be true for 'Tyrannosaurus Hives'. Everyone from Garstang to Gothenburg will listen to it for a month. Exclusively. And forget about it for ten years. But, god, what a month August 2004 is going to be. And August 2014.