THE SUPERNATURALS

A Tune A Day (Food/Parlophone)

The Supernaturals is a rather ironic name for a band who are so ordinary. They are, essentially, your average white indie guitar band, only with more jokes and a sense of self-awareness: they’re less inclined to declare themselves the best fookin’ group in the world than they are to sheepishly admit to being “the 4th best band in Hull”. . . .only they’re not from Hull.

At times this modesty serves them well and brings you over to their side; but sometimes it just makes them seem stultifyingly unambitious. ‘It doesn‚t Matter Anymore’‚ is the kind of sub-Blur stomp that even Blur themselves don’t do anymore, while ‘Idiot’ is a rueful self-deprecating open letter – like so many of the songs – to a an ex (or soon-to-be-ex).

But the delivery is usually more Leonard Rossiter than Leonard Cohen. The closing ‘Everest’, for instance, starts off as a standard enough lament about unrequited love, only as the song progresses, the band can’t keep a straight face and so cheesy metaphor follows cheesy metaphor until our Supernatural Romeo intimates that his love is “bigger than a DIY superstore . . . bigger than Birmingham, bigger than FRANCE!” and so on to ever more absurd extremes.

Musically, it’s pretty much Britpop writ if not quite large then in italics, with sprightly Fanclub-esque harmonies and guitar riffs making a welcome visit every now and then. The highlight has to be current single, ‘I Wasn’t Built To Get Up’, which is their answer to Matt Bianco’s ‘Get Out Of Your Lazy Bed’ and designed to make those of us avoiding the 9-to-5 treadmill feel just that little bit less guilty.

For that reason alone, I suppose we should thank them, but by the time we reach the end of the 14th and final song, the gratitude has long since worn off.

Nick Kelly