What's not to like about The Dents? The four-piece garage/punk outfit just kicks ass. Plain and simple. Call it girl power, a punk revival, whatever you like, but their new release, "Time For Biting" on Abbey Lounge Records, proves the point with great authority. "Time For Biting" delivers 11 tracks of in-your-face guitars, vocal harmonies and booming drums wrapped in tight little packages about three minutes long. Co-frontwomen Michelle Paulhus and Jennifer D'Angora trade off vocals throughout, with D'Angora playing guitar and Paulhus holding down bass duties. Craig Adams tears up lead guitar, and rounding out the band is new drummer Kevin Pickering. Former drummer Gino Zanetti left when the album was completed last summer, but Paulhus assures fans it was an amicable split.

One would imagine a lot of turmoil in The Dents, with Paulhus also playing full time in the band The Marvels, D'Angora playing full time with her ex-husband in Downbeat 5, and Adams playing in a band with the recently departed Zanetti. It seems a situation rife with land mines, but somehow the unit makes it all work. Perhaps it's a good thing the band plays up-tempo garage-punk-all the tension gets directed into the music instead of at each other. And if it's their unspent anger that fuels tunes like "One More Time," "Better Off" and "Not Through With You," then they should live by the motto, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. From the overdriven guitars and raucous solos, vocals verging on screaming or growling, depending on the anger level, to the rhythm section's fast, solid beats, this is music to move to-maybe not to dance so much as to flail with fists and feet, but move nonetheless. "Time For Biting" works on every level.

The Abbey Lounge Records label is a side project for a bar of the same name in Somerville (and The Dents' HQ) that now puts out records, somewhat like The Rat did back in the 1970s. "Time For Biting" captures the band's live show intensity and energy, no easy feat for a small studio effort. Harnessing the band's output for the record fell to David Minehan at Wooly Mammoth Studios, who did a spectacular job finding a balance between garage and polished. The band's high energy and non-stop brashness on stage makes for a great show-they've played the Seacoast in the past, memorably with the Guts at Shooter's in Exeter last year-but when making a record, precision and durability must temper straight-out angst. Luckily, The Dents' songs are well crafted, and the band is extremely tight. And when you listen to the new record, as well you should, you'll know what to expect onstage. What more can you ask from a CD?

Speaking of playing with The Guts, the two bands will be at the Brick House in Dover on Wednesday, Feb. 23. The show starts at 7:30 with Tiny Whales and Never Only Once setting the stage. Only $5 for what will be a memorable show-it will be The Guts' last appearance with co-frontman Nate Doyle before he heads for sunny California.