Record guide: selected rock and pop releases

These capsule reviews are designed to help readers decide which records to buy. Inclusion does not indicate Monitor endorsement. Further reviews in the rock/pop category - as well as in other categories, such as classical and jazz - are published from time to time.

ROCK/POP

Blondie: ''The Hunter.'' CHR 1384. If there's one word to describe this album , it's ''silly.'' The first side begins with the distant noise of something sounding like chimpanzees and in many ways goes downhill from there. Just the sight of the way the group is dressed on the cover should be sufficient warning to record buyers. Debbie Harry is outfitted in a leopard vest - need one go further? - it's all part of ''The Hunter'' theme. When Blondie burst onto the scene over three years ago with ''Heart of Glass,'' it was different. The group didn't seem as self-consciously innovative. ''Heart of Glass'' was a pleasure. The mechanical disco sound and Debbie Harry's detached-sounding voice somehow all came together for a remarkably powerful song. But songs from ''The Hunter'' merely sound like rehashes of previous efforts, which probably is why the album has not met with the success several previous releases by the group enjoyed. There is an occasional tune with some merits. ''Island of Lost Souls'' is not bad, in its jazzy Latin-sounding way. But the first cut, ''Orchid Club,'' is repetitive and tiresome. Ditto for ''Dragonfly'' and most of the other songs.