Nevermind the bollocks: Sex PIssed Dolls - Photo by SK Photography
First up is support act Apollo Junction. Seeing as they only found out they were playing two days before the show, they pull off a great performance that’s just pure fun. Free T-shirts tossed into eager people’s hands have the crowd fully on board – I’m not sure the fan that got the actual shirt off a band member’s back at the end of their set should think themselves lucky or not, considering how much of a workout the band were getting. A finale with the lead singer jumping right down into the crowd to wander around and say hello to the people further back while he sang added an extra bit of charm. Worth watching out for.
Time for the 'Dolls. The guitarists and drummer appear on stage first to riotous appreciation and dive straight into the first beats of She Sells Sanctuary by The Cult, at which point lead singer Nancy Doll swaggers on stage dressed in white and a big-ass sparkly silver top hat – think Mad Hatter goes clubbing. Within minutes she’s down at the edge of the stage engaging with the mosh pit, emerging breathless at the end of the opening song having lost her microphone somewhere down among the discarded plastic cups (it’s found, but not before she tries to swipe guitarist Connie Rotter’s mic.)
It’s a pogo through some of punk’s most beloved songs, including The Damned’s New Rose, Blitzkrieg Bop by The Ramones, and courtesy of their namesake, The Sex Pistols, Pretty Vacant and God Save the Queen. There’s also a bit of a detour though some Nirvana and Beastie Boys, but they go down just as well with the crowd members judging by their raucous battle cries to fight for the right to party. And just in case you thought they were nothing but copy-cats, the original material they debut from their EP fits perfectly alongside the classics in both style and substance. Meanwhile, the obligatory encore surprises the crowd by starting with Rotter appearing behind the audience at the top of the Rescue Rooms balcony, ripping out a riff with effortless cool.
While the songs the Dolls perform are generally straight forward renditions of the originals, the sheer power of lead singer Nancy Doll’s attitude as she attacks the songs like a feral burlesque star hypnotizes you into believe they’re all hers. She struts like Jagger, spits insults and endearments into the crowd with equal swagger, and has the audience of weathered old school punk fans utterly besotted (as well as this reviewer). And that’s the strangest part – their bio at times reads like the start of a typical manufactured pop act – albeit one dreamed up by a punk rocker - and yet the Dolls seem to inspire real devotion from punk fans (although I’m sure there are those out there who feel the Dolls are betraying the ‘real’ tradition of punk), to the point their devotees have their own name – the Dolls Barmy Army. Not bad for a covers band, huh?
It’s been said about a lot of acts, but that makes it no less true: Sex Pissed Dolls are a band that you need to see live to get the full force of their sound and charisma. Do yourself a favour and check them out – they’re all over the country this year, so you’ll have plenty of chances.
Sex Pissed Dolls were at the Rescue Rooms on Saturday 17 September 2016.
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