Morrissey fans are a particular breed. Dedicated.

‘Complicated’. Often vegetarian. All in all, not the easiest bunch to please; and not the most inviting of crowds for a warm-up act to try and win over.

So then, having just been confirmed as support for the great man’s impending 2009 European tour, getting on the right side of the crowd is a prospect you might think Doll and the Kicks wouldn’t be relishing. Talking from the studio where they’re recording their first album though, the blonde (often bespectacled) bombshell who fronts the Brighton four-piece isn’t showing any signs of intimidation.

“We did have a couple of people on the Morrissey forum expressing their disgust that we had been asked to support and one even said ‘if they are supporting I’m not going out of principle’, and I thought ‘what principle?’ That doesn’t even make any sense. Anyway, he got caned by the other users after that!” says Doll. Yes, it’s not just a stage name… “I always wanted to have one name, kind of like Madonna.

“I’m hoping they will get us because Morrissey has a wide audience as we always have done - we don’t just appeal to teenagers. We have had mostly support from them, a lot of great comments and messages on MySpace and some of them have even gone out of their way to spread the Doll and the Kicks word!”

Okay, so perhaps we’re generalising, but Doll and the Kicks are not quite what you’d expect as support at a Morrissey gig. With their sassy front woman in the shape of Doll (Kate Bush vocals/Karen O visuals), striking, post-punk sound and punchy hooks in every song they might be a bit brash for some of the older, more sneering, Smiths fans they’ll encounter at the Royal Albert Hall.

For an unsigned band though – currently working on a self-released / largely self-produced album – is the prospect of opening for one of British music’s most beloved legends and being catapulted into some of the country’s most imposing venues daunting?

“It’s such a privilege and an honour to open for Morrissey and we were blown away to be asked,” says Doll. The band were asked personally to appear as support by Morrissey, who came to see them at a recent 100 Club gig and was recently heard calling them “very powerful, very unusual and very strong” on the radio.

“And playing big venues is not a problem for us,” she continues. “Anyone who has seen us on both large and small stages tells us that we really come into our own when given a larger space. I for one cannot wait and I know we won’t disappoint.”

Before that though, DATK have got their first record to finish. Currently recording at The Levellers’ Metway Studio in Brighton, the band are financing the debut album entirely themselves.

“It’s been very difficult as we all work minimum wage jobs,” says Doll. “We have had to borrow enough just so we can do this because we have had no other choice. It’s going really well and we’re all so pleased with how it’s sounding even though it’s only about half done.”

It’s all very exciting at the moment. Things seem to be moving very quickly in a very short space of time although we have worked really hard to get here.”

Doll and the Kicks formed three years ago in Brighton. Doll was trying to put a band together but says she found it hard to be taken seriously as a female songwriter in a scene dominated by men, when she met guitarist Olivier. Though he was in another band at the time, when Olivier heard Doll’s songs he offered to play guitar and the band formed not long after.

Despite 2007 and 2008 seeing performances at Glastonbury and The Great Escape, 2009 looks like it’s going to be the year for Doll and the Kicks. With the major Morrissey tour kicking off in April, the debut album release and the launch of their first single, ‘Roll Up The Red Carpet’ in January, the band are entering their most exciting period to date. Backed by major radio stations like Kerrang! and BBC 6, and with songs that are edgy and raw but still accessible enough to appeal to a wide audience, success for DATK seems assured.

The debut single has been produced by Oscar The Punk (Gwen Stefani, Robyn, Moby) and mastered by Grammy winner Simon Gregory (U2, Madonna). While the song fizzes with all the energy, attitude and angular guitars you’d expect from a female fronted post-punk band, it also has a polished feel to it and a true Kate Bush vibe about the spiky vocal delivery.

Doll tells me that the band name came from a pre-pubescent epiphany she had at a Foo Fighters’ concert at The Royal Court in Liverpool when she was 12… “The first song on the album (‘Doll’ on The Colour And The Shape) was my favourite and so that’s where it came from really.”

And who influenced the vocal style?

“Anyone who puts real passion into their performance really,” she says. “People like Suzie Quatro, Kate Bush and Siouxsie Sioux. Women who really stand the test of time and have something a little different to offer people both in their unique voices and their style of performance. That’s very important to me.

“We like to take anything that we think is good and try and use it to inspire our writing - whether that be a killer drum beat or rhythm in someone’s lyrics. We don’t just love bands, we love pop music and I think that shows in our writing. As musicians we don’t want to just be playing for ourselves, we want to earn a living out of doing what we love so we want people to love it too.”

Doll and the Kicks’ single launch party for ‘Roll Up The Red Carpet’ is at Proud Galleries in February. After that they can be seen all over Britain supporting Morrissey.

Doll and the Kicks play Proud Galleries on 5 February 2009.