Over the last three years, Ladydoll have become champions of the local live music scene in Cork. The Knife Thrower and His Wife is their first release, with eight of the ten tracks being produced by the band themselves.

This is no bad thing. Like many of the great Cork bands of yore, Ladydoll have been able to define their own idiosyncratic blueprint and it’s an impressive one. Placebo are cited as an influence, and there’s definitely a hint of Brian Molko to both the band’s energetic riffs and Finn Sedas’ distinctively raw vocal style. But after a few listens their personality shines through and you’ll find yourself humming tracks like the band’s super-catchy first single ‘You Know Best’ all day.

Heavier tracks (the aforementioned ‘Eisenhower’, and ‘Honeybunny’) are counterbalanced nicely with darker gems like the menacingly comic ‘I Hate Cats’, where a sparse and haunting piano accompaniment is juxtaposed with Sedas’ wonderfully deadpan vocal: “I’ve grown fond of talking to/ Self-absorbed little leeches who don’t have a clue”. Eerily brilliant.

The Knife Thrower and His Wife (mixed by Adrian Bushby of Foo Fighters and Muse fame) should establish Ladydoll firmly on the map.