Reviews : Temper-Tantrum Rock From <i> Real</i> Sonic Youth

Old Skull is not just another young punk band. The three boys from Madison, Wis., are still a few years away from graduating elementary school, and though they were the headliners at the Club With No Name Monday night, they were the first performers on the bill because they can’t stay up past bedtime. Old Skull also has a clause in its contract stipulating that it must be supplied with a carton of milk and a box of cookies after the show.

Despite their short -comings, the three are true masters of temper-tantrum rock. Drummer Jesse Collins-Davies even maintained a solid beat now and then. Jamie Toulon, 8, bashed a little Casio keyboard, smacked a trash-can lid with a wrench, and rode his skateboard off the stage, demonstrating a solid foundation in the performance-art and industrial-noise techniques of Einsturzende Neubauten. Singer-guitarist J.P. Toulon, 9, screaming into the microphone while wrenching atonal feedback out of his guitar, proved himself to be the real Sonic Youth.

Mere child’s play? Hardly! These are serious artists addressing topical issues such as AIDS, the homeless and the Angst of riding on the school bus. Here is a band with genuine growth potential--when a fan shouted, “Never trust anyone over 9,” Collins-Davies disdainfully answered, “We’re 10 now!” Life beyond the single-digit years must get rough sometimes.