THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS April 17, 1993, Saturday, HOME FINAL EDITION SECTION: OVERNIGHT; AFTER HOURS; Pg. 40A LENGTH: 331 words HEADLINE: Superchunk shot down by Rocket BYLINE: Teresa Gubbins, Staff Writer of The Dallas Morning News BODY: Poor Superchunk. The up-and-coming North Carolina quartet headlined Thursday night at Trees. But its alternative pop felt pappy after the moodiness of the two opening bands, the Grifters and Rocket From the Crypt. If you're about to say, "Rocket from the who?,' then bite your tongue. This San Diego fivesome won't remain obscure for very long -- assuming tortured front man John Reis doesn't blow up a high-rise building first. Rocket and Drive Like Jehu, Mr. Reis' other band affiliation, have both landed deals with Interscope Records. Mr. Reis sings and plays guitar with a calm veneer that barely hides a sense of passion and disaster. He snarled and grimaced, veins bulging, eyes staring fiendishly. Covering tunes from the '92 independent release, Circa: Now!, the quirkily named backup musicians -- Apollo 9, etc. -- nearly matched their leader's diabolical mood. The strength of the Rocket show was its collision of control and chaos. The band wore a uniform of nondescript pants and white T-shirts and sported short haircuts. You'd think they were the nicest boys to ever attend a church social. But once they began to play, their eyes narrowed, their bodies convulsed and the music exploded with a ripping intensity that had the potential to ignite onstage. Combustion among audience members was prevented by what seemed to be really bad sound. But according to the beleaguered Trees sound guy, the band had specified the sonic irregularities. It wasn't hard to believe; malice and whimsy are what seems to fuel Mr. Reis' dark streak. Openers the Grifters conveyed a stark moodiness too. Singer/guitarist Scott Taylor must get tired of the Joy Division comparisons, but he displayed the same tormented beauty as Joy's Ian Curtis. Superchunk's lead man Mac Macauley had all the wholesomeness and none of the malice of the Rocket boys. The quartet jammed and strummed and bounced up and down, but the songs lacked teeth and the show lacked fire.