Hell yes. I just finished listening to this song before I started writing. Really got me pumped. I haven’t written about The Hives all that much on here. Only on two occasions in the past. I’ve got no beef with them. I know they were one of those ‘The’ bands who were part of that garage rock revival scene in the 2000s. But I was too young to understand what was going on then. So it was the case of casually seeing their music videos on TV from time to time that drew me towards them. Whenever those videos were on those kinds of channels, the songs were usually good. I can appreciate a Hives tune. I also know that they’re known to put on a good show in a live setting, reinforced by the undeniable charisma of frontman Pelle Almqvist. I’ve never gone through any of their albums in full, though. Looking at them, the band only have one that goes over 35 minutes in length. Going for a short, sharp route it seems. Think I’ve got time to spare to that check that discography out.

‘Two-Timing Touch and Broken Bones’ is a tune from the band’s second album, Tyrannosaurus Hives, released in July 2004. People would have known the band for ‘Hate to Say I Told You So’ at least by that point, but this era of the band’s was when I was first introduced to them. That’s a story for another day. Regarding ‘Two-Timing…’ I’m very sure, before I heard the song in full, its guitar riff was used in an advert on the UK channel, Trouble. Anyone remember Trouble? Used to show programmes like The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, My Wife and Kids, Moesha, um…. Hang Time? My sister watched Trouble a lot. Being the younger-by-four-years brother, I had no right to change the channel, so I was usually stuck with having to watch what she did. Years later, having come across more Hives songs as time went past, when the video for ‘Two-Timing…’ one day appeared on TV – I’m thinking Kerrang! for some reason, maybe it was usual suspect MTV2 – and the music started, it was like, “Of course it’s a Hives song.” If it was going to be any band that had a riff like that, it was them.

So I don’t know what this song is about. I’ve only recently come to a conclusion – in my head, not verified – that it was someone’s idea in the band to take that “Let’s go [team name]” chant you’ll usually hear in US sports stadiums and use it as the melody for the verses. I don’t think that’s too far a reach. But really, ‘Two-Timing Touch and Broken Bones’. As a phrase, what does it mean? I’m not sure it has one. But it sounds good with the band barking it against those rushing, chopping guitars during the choruses. I like how the guitar chords alternate between left and right speakers. Very cool. And Pelle Almqvist, as always, is manic on the microphone, culminating in that scream during the song’s ending moments. If you don’t know what the song’s about too, I guess we can learn together. Let’s see. Hmm, “it’s just about being cheated on, and then getting into a pointless fight or sometihng.” That’s… not too bad a shout. The title and lyrics make a whole lot more sense now. I’m glad we went through this together.

AND THAT’S IT. Big sigh. That’s the ‘T’ section finished. I’m pleased with how this one went. It’s been the section where, after 13 years of doing this, I’ve finally sussed out how the structure of these posts should go. Thanks for reading, it’s been a long seven months of writing. It’s break time for me. I’ll be back at some point.