by LORRAINE CARPENTER

"I look pretty sexy in a dress or a tight skirt," says Dresden Dolls drummer Brian Viglione, "so why not work with what the good Lord gave ya?"

Considering this Boston-based duo's tendency toward vaudeville duds and drag, perhaps it was a higher power that happened to bring them together on Halloween, 2000. Amanda Palmer was an impassioned singer and pianist, Viglione a versatile drummer weaned on metal and jazz, and neither had found an appropriate outlet for their art until they found each other. Over the past year, the "Brechtian punk cabaret" sound of their eponymous album and the primal potency of their show have sparked a faithful cult following that's starting to bubble up into mainstream press, radio and TV. As at their recent Montreal gig, at least one Dresden Dolls fan per show mirrors the band's look - white faces, black suits, black-and-white striped tights, bowler hats and his 'n' hers negligées.

Predictably, the duo has been attacked by cynical critics for having an un-indie image ("So we use a little facepaint - what performer over the last 2000 years hasn't?"), and Viglione, a part-time crossdresser since the age of seven, has been attacked for his women's wear, but not in the way you'd assume.

"I dressed in drag in New Orleans the other day and a gay fan went to our mailing list and wrote, ‘I'm disgusted by Brian's fey, limp-wristed imitation of gay people' and told us to go to hell. It's interesting how twisted that is - I mean, here's a homosexual denouncing me for being who I am."

Viglione is not gay, as he's often explained to his parents, and despite their hands-on behaviour and talk of falling in "rock love," he and Palmer are not a couple.

"We're obviously very attracted to each other but we choose not to carry that out in an exclusive way," he explains. "We play up the romantic imagery in our photo shoots and the stage performance can be very sexually charged, but making music together is far more important to us than sustaining a romantic relationship."

With guests at Cabaret on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 9 p.m., $15.50

>> Music Listings