New York Dolls

The word "legend" gets bandied about a lot nowadays, but for the Dolls it verges on understatement. Putting an androgynous, exultant spin on bare-bones rock 'n' roll and girl-group sassiness on '70s classics The New York Dolls and Too Much Too Soon, the band never got a sliver of the commercial attention they deserved. Still, through thousands of acolytes ranging from punks like the Clash to Poison and their ilk ("it's like having Cain and Abel as your spawn," sensational frontman Johanson told New York magazine in 2006), their inspiration never left insider consciousness. One cultist even managed to return the favor: Longtime fan Morrissey orchestrated their bittersweet 2004 reunion (bassist Arthur Kane passed away not long afterward) for a British festival he was curating. Still, Johansen and guitarist Sylvain Sylvain managed to keep playing shows, and even record a proper third album, One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This (Roadrunner), in 2006, ensuring that we all will able to dance like monkeys far into the future. With We Are the Fury.
Sun., Feb. 24, 8 p.m., 2008