Supernova

Rox (Amphetamine Reptile)
by Jon Sarre

Is inanity easier to forgive if it’s all up front? I dunno, maybe. Dependin’ on the mood I’m in, I could waffle a bit. Usually, a purposely wacky cutesy band (the Presidents of the U.S.A. would be a good example if they didn’t suck so much) annoys the hell outta me. On the other hand, Man or Astroman? can be pretty funny (but ya don’t really get that from their records). So then, if we’re all in on the joke, is stupidity less irritating? If I had to answer that based on Rox, the new Supernova album, I’d haveta go with “no.” The fact that the Supernova guys insist on wearin’ tinfoil doesn’t bug me all that much when they can pull off “Calling Hong Kong,” especially if I not only don’t haveta look at ’em but I only gotta endure ’em for like two and a half minutes. A single is one thing. A full-length, however, kinda gives me the feelin’ I used to get from watchin’ a full day of UHF kid’s TV. I started thinkin’ that Rox was annoyin’ ’round the fourth song, “Telephone,” a good four minutes of poppy, punky new wavy whateveryawannacallit, as if John Lydon heard the Go-Gos and decided right then and there that PiL wasn’t nearly infantile enough. By track 6, “Roll in the Hay,” I was clearly irritated, but I was still lookin’ for this pop charm I was sure I was missing. Two songs later (the junk food ode, “King Ding Dong”), I was ready to slug someone. Supernova’s later exhortations on “Books” (“check ’em out!”) made me wanna run screamin’ to the library.