On as rainy a Guy Fawkes night as you can get it's heartening upon entering the venue to see such a respectable turnout, given the temptations of soggy hot dogs and the chance to say "Ooh" and "Ahh" a lot.

But those sounds are replaced by chuckles as local heroes Guntys, now trimmed down to a three piece, hit the floor and, errant cymbal stand notwithstanding (or standing at all!), proceed to put smiles on every face with their punk folk tales of dog fowling, stag nights and local drunken legends. Very silly but wholly entertaining.

Next on are local favourites This System Kills, who despite Spinal Tap-like drummer troubles seem to have stabilised again and turn in another damn good performance with 'Under Banners', '30 Years' and the now-legendary 'Red Brick' making sure everyone is properly warmed up. There's no Stick Of Doom tonight, just no nonsense punk rock and a very relieved drummer at the end of the set.

Merthyr's Ten Plus One also put in a great shift, their set mixing plenty of hardcore riffage with an uncanny ear for melody that brought to mind China Drum and Therapy in equal measures.  Their dark humour and endless tales of being fucked over provide a perfect yin-yang with their upbeat musical style and ultimately prove to be very enjoyable. Enjoyable to the extent I blagged a free CD from them and then lost it - fuckwit!!

Despite playing nowhere near enough (singer Gaggs even commented that having done three gigs in the last couple of months felt like being on tour), Cardiff veterans No Choice prove that musical class is permanent as they deliver another top-drawer performance. Despite being physically below par, courtesy of the lurghy, Gaggs' vocal style gives songs like 'Dry River Fishing' so much more and despite some real shit luck with equipment problems most in attendance are gob-smacked by just how fucking excellent they are. I hope they keep going forever because I will never tire of watching them and there are a lot of snotty young supposed punks who should take a long hard look at this lot and see how a truly great band should act, perform and stay true to their beliefs, unlike some of the showers of shit that masquerade under the name "punk".

Next up for The Dolls House on November 26^th a five band punk rock and sleaze bill headlined by The Sick Livers that is the best thing we've seen in the area since Slugfest. Click on this link to find out more.