Not Savannah Lite.
Many Triangle punks thrive on vegan burritos, mixtapes and the fact that they can barely play their instruments. Sure, it can be endearing at times, but at the end of the day, when hugging and cutesy off-key anti-war songs have lost their appeal—and believe me, they will—its best to have something on which to fall back. May I suggest a bit of technical prowess, some rather large amps and the Dark Lord himself?
Enter Tooth. Together for a year and change, the Durham five-piece has fine-tuned its de-tune to become one of the strongest metal/hardcore/punk/whatever acts in the area. The quintet coalesces the depressingly damning assault of Eyehategod, the crust-ridden scuzz of Dystopia and the purely diabolical motorcycle mayhem of Venom into an obnoxiously loud, beard-tangled punk metal mess. Don’t think Savannah Lite: Think Durham Plus.
I’d wanted to see Tooth for quite a while and finally got my chance March 20 as they opened for Florida’s Torche and Georgia’s Black Tusk at Kings. First of all, it must be noted that Torche was heavy almost to the point of disbelief, and probably became a few—out of, I don’t know, 30? —people’s new favorite band that night. As for the locals, they held their own , even with such a weighty bill. Guitarist Rich James towered over his Les Paul, melding hammer-on solos and crust metal scales into each three-minute opus, while Ben Wilson pounded out equally menacing drop-D (or A or C??) riffs on his own axe. A grit-toothed Ryland Fishel maintained bass duties like a young Steve Harris, and Noah Kessler beat his way above the full-stack racket of his band mates. With fists and goats flailing, Jamie Guptil sang, screamed, growled and did whatever he felt necessary as a front man for a band like Tooth. It worked damn well.
The truth is, Tooth isn’t the tightest, best sounding or most original band in the Triangle, but who really cares? With only a year under their belts, it should be a hell of a time watching these guys get better and better. Actually, it’s a hell of a time watching them play now. I salute Tooth, one more example that heavy music can do just fine in the indie rock-saturated Triangle. Hail.
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