HUGGABLE PUNK

Adorable. That’s not a word usually used in connection with punk, but it is apt in describing the Toy Dolls’ show Friday at the Hollywood Palladium. The good-natured English music-hall humor of songs such as “Nellie the Elephant,” “I’ve Got Asthma” and “James Bond (Lives Down Our Street)” proved a refreshing break from the self-importance of so many current bands. Likewise, head Doll Michael (Olga) Algar is an anomaly among punks. Even when he--the skinniest man in show biz--stripped down to his boxer shorts near the end of the hourlong set, the effect was more cute--huggable punk--than rebellious. The Dolls will also play Saturday at Fender’s.

Second-billed Dickies, irrepressible mainstays of the local scene, served up equally entertaining and cleverly presented Saturday-morning cartoonish punk. Opening band Doggy Style offered more “traditional” hard-core punk revolving around crude sexual references.