NOBODY knows quite what to make of the Sex Pissed Dolls.

The five-piece all girl band play covers by the likes of The Clash, Buzzcocks, Stiff Little Fingers and, of course, the Sex Pistols.

But what is it all about? Is it a punk rock revival, a statement about girl groups or simply a raunchy night out?

You can find out for yourself when the band play at Parr Hall on October 23 but according to singer Nancy Doll and bassist Jilly Idol it is all those things in one.

Jilly said: "It’s very raw. There’s loads of energy. People who haven’t seen us before are quite shocked."

Nancy added: "Sometimes people think that because we’re girls dressed up in sexy clothes that’s all it’s about. They don’t think we can play.

"But we can perform music as well as any male rock band. I would like our band to smash the preconceptions of girl groups these days because some of them are pathetic and weak.

"They’re everything you expect them to be and we’re not. My dad was a musician and I lost my mum so I was brought up around men and music.

"And, for me, you like what you like and you do what you do no matter who you are."

Jill said: "Some of our fans bring their teenage daughters with them and they love it. If you can inspire young girls to pick up a guitar or a microphone that’s fantastic."

Band manager Paul Smith and Nancy came up with the idea for the Sex Pissed Dolls after a drunken night out in Blackpool about a year ago.

The idea struck at 3am when Paul started playing some of his favourite punk tracks from the 1970s.

A search for band members took them all over the country but they returned to Blackpool for their first gig at the Layton Institute in October 2014.

And word quickly spread with the Sex Pissed Doll's current tour growing from 12 dates to about 60.

Paul said: "It just seemed to go around YouTube and Facebook very quickly and before I knew it we were getting messages from places around the country asking the band to play.

"It just exploded and we’ve now had offers from Norway and Japan."

The band, who always finish their set with Anarchy in the UK, can now count Bruce Foxton, former bassist for The Jam, Dave Colwell, former Bad Company guitarist and even Will Young among their fans.

But Nancy admitted that no everybody is impressed.

"Some of the older punks get upset with us," added the Leigh resident.

"In the 80s they were all against Thatcher and there was a miners’ strike and that kind of music told a story about that.

"They feel you had to be there to feel that anger and that energy but I disagree.

"Just because you weren’t born when Mozart was around doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate his music.

"It’s ridiculous. I think they should enjoy the fact we’re regenerating punk and reminding people what decent music is about.

"Because at the moment it’s like a factory with The X Factor and everything."

But there is another reason being in a band is important to Nancy – it is in her blood.

Her late dad Brian Lowe played the double bass and her mum's cousin Pete Kircher was once the drummer for Status Quo.

"I remember watching Quo on Live Aid and he was drumming on that," said Nancy.

"I was only young so I didn’t really get it at the time but as I’ve grown up I think: 'Wow, that’s quite cool'.

"In my dad’s time he backed the likes of Tom Jones and Dusty Springfield.

"A lot of his old bandmates turned up at his funeral and it’s amazing the stories I heard about what he used to get up to.

"My mum was also a massive jazz fan and my brother’s a massive Rolling Stones fan so growing up there was always music in the house so I was inspired by so many different types of music.

"My mum hated the Sex Pistols though and if they were on Top of the Pops she’d be shouting: 'Turn it off' while my dad and I would be jumping around the living room.

"It’s a bit sad that he’s not here to see us now."

- The Sex Pissed Dolls perform at Parr Hall on October 23. Visit pyramidparrhall.com or call 442345.

DAVID MORGAN