Pop svengali Alan McGee has had a long string of failures since the decline of Oasis (anyone remember Three Colours Red?), so when he announces that he's found the new saviours of music, you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd heard it all before. But, wonder of wonder, The Hives are that rare thing - a McGee discovery who go some way to justifying the hype. Emerging from the small Swedish town of Fagersta, these five mod-punk brats have exotic names, wear monochrome suits and peddle a nice line in spiky, hormonal garage pop. Combining the best tracks from their two albums to date, Your New Favourite Band is the perfect companion to the Strokes' Is This It - and while its relentless energy gets a bit tiring towards the end, there's enough inventiveness here to suggest that the Hives have an exciting future ahead of them.
