The Dents bang out slamming pop
Michelle Paulhus is late. "I'm a bad Dent," she says, grinning as she flops into a chair at Woolly Mammoth Sound, a recording studio in the Fenway. Paulhus was at an after-hours party and then overslept. Now it's almost noon.
Those who've seen the singer/bassist onstage would disagree: She and her band, the Dents, are very good indeed. And just 1 1/2 years after their lineup came together, they've got something to show for it. With a cheerfully slamming set of punk-pop, they came in second at the WBCN Rock 'N' Roll Rumble in May, earning $1,750 and an array of prizes. Their first record, a split-EP with the Street Dogs on the new Abbey Lounge Records, came out early this year and has earned airplay on WBCN, WFNX, and WMBR.
Now they're recording their debut album, produced by local legend Dave Minehan (ex-Neighborhoods) and due out in October. As Minehan sits behind the soundboard, tweaking tracks, you can hear different elements of the Dents' sound emerge: There's Craig Adams's lead guitar, which can veer from a Van Halen assault to Sonic Youth feedback in a second. There are the crunching rhythms, the catchy, honey-and-grit harmonies of Paulhus and her fellow frontwoman and songwriter, singer/guitarist Jennifer D'Angora. There are the lyrics that trash ex-boyfriends, whining buddies, and mean scenesters with equal aplomb -- "straight-up girl talk," as Minehan calls it.
There's nothing revolutionary about it, really. "It's kind of traditional in a lot of ways," Adams says. "Tried-and-true." But to get the full force of the Dents' appeal, it helps to see them live. "They're one of those bands that you see and just say, `Oh my God, they're so fun,' " says WBCN local-music director Shred.
In a recent show at the Abbey Lounge, Paulhus was a bobbing blur, an Elvis-like sneer on her face as she belted out songs and put her Fender bass through its paces. D'Angora was a magnet for the eyes and ears: In the club's dim light, her huge white Italia guitar gleamed along with her blond hair, and her revved-up yowl made her seem like some angelic offspring of Joan Jett and Billy Idol. Adams and drummer Gino Zanetti kept the voltage on high. It was as if they were all careening on an amusement-park ride they'd hammered together themselves.
"There's a sheer joy in it for them, and that is so contagious. It's really from the heart," says Minehan, who acknowledges rooting for them in the Rumble. "Also they're women, and I think it is sorely overlooked in this town that, you know, there are girls here who can rock, gentlemen." The Dents' next show is July 22 at the Middle East Downstairs.
In assessing the Dents' growing popularity, there is no getting around the chick factor. "It always helps to have two sexy girls onstage," says Shred, laughing.
But the last thing Paulhus and D'Angora want is attention that singles them out for that. "There's nothing more disappointing than opening up a review and having someone talk about the skirt that you had on," Paulhus says. "Or your bra strap falling down," D'Angora adds. Rock critics, take note: "It makes my blood boil," Paulhus declares.
In fact, their tough, straight-ahead approach -- with no come-hither clothes or hyped riot-grrl attitude -- attracts fans of both genders.
"I've had more women come up to me because of this band, saying that we're inspiring and make them want to be in a band themselves," D'Angora says. "They've always wanted to do it, and now they think they can. That's probably the greatest gift to come out of this band."
Lou Mansdorf, who works with groups such as Slipknot and Nickelback in his day job as a regional sales rep for Roadrunner Records, says the Dents helped inspire him to launch Abbey Lounge Records this year with J. Grimaldi, co-owner of the atmospheric Inman Square dive bar. Mansdorf, a New York transplant, says he was blown away when he first walked into the club and got a sense of the scene. As for the Dents, "They have that great female pop sensibility of bands like the Shangri-Las, and you mix that in with the guitar-driven intensity of the Ramones," he says. "They just reminded me of a lot of great bands that I'd seen in New York."
All the members of the Dents are seasoned players in the local scene; they're in a total of nine bands among them. They include the Downbeat 5, in which D'Angora performs with her ex-husband, punk veteran J. J. Rassler (she re-took her maiden name when her divorce was final last month). The other Dents are former Decals; Paulhus plays with the Marvels and Andrea Gillis, and Adams is in the cover band Trouser -- with Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein. (They practice in Adams's "dumpy basement in Roslindale," he says. And yes, he gets free Sox tickets out of it.)
How far could the Dents go? "I think it depends on what they put into their future," Shred says. "It's as far as they want to take it." Meanwhile, their partnership is the easygoing kind that extends to giving one another goofy band nicknames: In one wide-ranging conversation, Paulhus is "Polly Dent," Zanetti claims "Presi Dent," and Craig says he's "Confi Dent." D'Angora is stumped until Zanetti comes up with it: "She's `Indepen Dent.' "
The Dents play July 22 at the Middle East Downstairs. Tickets are $10. For information, call 617-864-3278. 