Album: The Hives, Lex Hives (Disques/Sony)

It's been five years between albums for The Hives, but it could have been a month or a millennium, so unchanging is their plastic punk aesthetic.

And sure, if you reckon it's been downhill ever since the first Ramones album, then "1000 Answers" and "Patrolling Days" will warm your heart, while "Come On!" and "Go Right Ahead" summarise their urgent, go-getting manner. The Ramones, you will recall, were rather witty, but the closest The Hives get to that is "our God is a zilla, our king is a kong". But one line doesn't make an album, just as one idea isn't a career.

Download: Go Right Ahead; 1000 Answers