HANDS up if you remember a band called The Lords of the New Church . . . anyone? No? Well, for the uninitiated, The Lords were a kind of Punk/Goth super-group who formed in the early 80s, led by one Stiv Bators and featuring ex-members of the Damned, Dead Boys and, erm, Sham 69. They were massively hyped yet never broke through into the mainstream, possibly because songs about barmy global conspiracy theories involving the Pope never really caught on in a nation enthralled by the feel-good pop of Wham! and their ilk. I mention the long-forgotten Lords because I discovered that this week’s interviewees, sleazy electro-poppers Sohodolls, had name-checked them as being a big influence on their band, which was a musical reference I’d not seen in years. So, when I talked to Sohodolls singer Maya Von Doll recently, I had to ask how come a 21st-century electro band is listening to crazy punk action from 25 years ago? She told me: “Toni’s Finnish — Toni Sailor, guitars — and he’s always been into all that glam rock stuff . . . Lords of the New Church, Hanoi Rocks, New York Dolls, and he’s introduced me to that. “I really like a lot of the Lords’ songs and I think their lyrics are just so funny. And that’s what we try to do with our lyrics as well . . . we don’t take ourselves too seriously. It’s all about putting on a little bit of make-up, having fun and living out your alter-egos on stage, really. We’ve definitely got the glam rock spirit.” Sohodolls suffered something of a setback last year when their bassist sent them an email announcing his departure, leaving them just a bit in the lurch with nine dates left to honour on a tour, but Maya told me that it’s caused a huge improvement to the band’s sound. She said: “We had nine more gigs to play. On the Friday we had a day off and, that night, we got an email saying ‘I’m not going to do the rest of the tour’. “ It was quite upsetting at the time when it happened but, looking back, it’s all been for the best. Now we’ve got a bass-player, Matt, and he plays double-bass, which brings in something very different to the band. “And he’s so good . . . he just puts a different spin on everything. He puts his double-bass through some brilliant special effects and just makes some really good sounds. Each song is so different now, and it’s fantastic.” V Sohodolls play The Cluny in Ouseburn, Newcastle, tomorrow night, tickets £6. For information, telephone 0191-230 4474 or visit www.headofsteam.co.uk | 
