The Supernaturals

It’s difficult to conjure up any strong feelings towards the Supernaturals. Live, the band aren’t especially exciting – the tunes rarely rise above average and there’s little to keep an audience interested. The opening slide guitar of ‘Monday Mornings’ bodes well but the song soon degenerates into another disappointing pop/rock standard.

When lead singer James McColl laughingly jokes about the turnout (not a great showing but significantly improved on last time when they played to a literal handful), the Scottish humour is self-effacing and endearing. But then he insists on telling us that he sticks his tongue out when concentrating – e.g. during guitar solo’s or sex – and the swagger is embarrassing. There’s something just a bit too smug about McColl that doesn’t compute with the reception or turnout tonight.

Maybe those present were in a state of shock at just how many Supernaturals songs everybody seems to know without actually being fans. There’s no denying the pleasant whimsicality of the singles ‘Day Before Yesterday’s Man’ and ‘Sheffield Song’. But Brit-pop thankfully died a death some time ago and so these songs are tinged with guilty regrets at just how we embraced that particular movement.

Tonight, for every ‘Smile’ there’s a ‘Life Is A Motorway’, with nursery rhyme lyrics so woeful they’d make you weep – “All the little cars going beep beep beep, all the little passengers fast asleep.”