Tooth & Sole

Here's a New Brunswick, NJ, trio that mixes the wrathful post-punk gnash sound of Albini (Rapeman or Shellac more than Big Black), Killdozer, Die Kreuzen, and other Midwestern trailblazers, and mixes it with the sort of post-Stooges hardcore/metal mongrel that any number of Australian garage outfits have prospected. When, as on "Diary" and "E-Mo," they go for the melodic approach, they score high marks. Elsewhere, it's hard to differentiate the group from hundreds of others piling on the noise, speed, rant vocal shouting, and most of all, the punishment. But if you want a whipping, these curt folks will be glad to administer.