POP MUSIC REVIEW : HEAVY METAL AT THE ROXY

A band’s decision to call itself Bitch reflects either a pretty good sense of humor or no sense at all. It’s far more the former in the case of the heavy-metal squad that stormed the Roxy on Thursday. In fact, Bitch’s wry sensibility is clearly its distinguishing trait, and probably its saving grace, too. For starters, after a two-year layoff the local quartet has returned to the metal circuit with an album whose title track is “The Bitch Is Back”--the old Elton John tune!

Fronted by powerful vocalist and sarcastic sex kitten Betsy, the band heavily emphasized material from the new LP Thursday, including a song actually called “Headbanger,” in which Betsy barked such immortal lines as:

Come on headbanger, I know you’ve got a head

And I strongly suggest you bang it!

Changing into a black leather outfit and brandishing a whip, Betsy revived the cartoonish dominatrix act that marked Bitch shows years ago, explaining she wanted to “get back to her roots.” She also speculated that Bitch was probably listed in the Guinness Book of Records “under most songs written about whips and chains.”

Obviously, Betsy doesn’t take her music too seriously. Good thing, too, because underneath the jokes there’s little more than sheets of cliched, old-school metal. Bitch’s leering humor definitely helps compensate for its musical shortcomings, and the strategy for 1987 apparently involves playing up the band’s waggish side. Smart move.