Whenever The Dresden Dolls are asked about how they got together, Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione launch into gushing monologues. They enthusiastically recount how, from the moment they started playing together, they knew that meeting each other was an epiphany in their existence, like finding their musical soul mate, like falling in "total rock love".

The wide-eyed way they carry on about this could inspire cynical questions from the best of us – are these sentiments genuine? Are they reciting carefully rehearsed sound bites? Is the piss being gently taken? Their stage show is the answer to such scepticism, and it’s a resounding "no", in case you’re wondering.

Apart from being exceptionally talented musicians, Palmer and Viglione are an astonishing live act and they’re about as tight as any band could be without having started their jam sessions in the womb. In fact, watching the Dolls deliver their twisted, muscular take on cabaret show tunes in a live environment is an almost hypnotic spectacle - the only drawback being that you can only keep your eyes on one of them at a time.

Behind her piano, Palmer alternately caresses, tickles and pounds the keys, writhing in her seat like the younger, more neurotic sister of Tori Amos. Her voice runs the gamut from full-throated wail on the bruising 'Gravity', to heart-broken delicacy on the steady-climbing 'Half Jack', to near hysteria quick-time on the stop/start clattering 'Girl Anachronism'.

Brian Viglione's drumming deserves a couple of extra bows. Rather than just being a metronome, the bowler-hat wearing drummer fills out the space in the songs with enough cymbal flourishes, rapid fire snares and stick-breaking hammering to make John Bonham swoon; it's like watching the drumming equivalent of Bruce Lee with a pair of nunchucks.

The Dolls's costumes give their live presence a dramatic punch. Although the pair of them appear on stage neatly attired in black with mime-white face paint, they are anything but contained, and watching them sweat, tear and blaze through their set is an extremely visceral experience.

I don't know how many people were packed into the Dolls' first ever UK gig the other night, but they've got every reason to be smug. On the strength of their live show alone it's a safe bet that the Dolls' audience is only going to get bigger and the fact they've got a excellent debut album to back it up doesn't hurt, either.

Synchronise your watches - the hype starts here.