Bare breasts and lurid sexual imagery are not politically correct. But someone should tell Big John Bates & the Voodoo Dollz.

Or maybe not, because he just doesn't give a damn about being politically correct. "I don't like it. I don't believe in it at all," the thirtysomething guitarist says from his Vancouver home. And does Bates ever worry what people will think of his sexually charged lyrics, demonic imagery and live flaming burlesque shows?"Never." Now that's refreshing. It's also pure rock'n'roll.

Bates,became Big John Bates in 1999, returning to his Russ Meyer influences. Together with percussionist L'il Bastard and upright slap bassist sCare-oline, Big John Bates began a rampage reeking of sulfur, booze and high-octane fuel.

After about a year Bates decided that there was something missing from his show and added a pair of burlesque dancers to the live line-up. "We use the burlesque to visually illustrate (our songs). Some of the songs are dirty and we like to play it up; it's a bit of vaudeville," he says of the naughty girls who dance while Bates grooves on his custom Gretsch guitar. While there is an aspect of vaudeville showmanship to the Voodoo Dollz, that squeaky-clean cousin of early burlesque certainly wouldn't alow the Big John Bates show on its stages.

Turns out the House of Blues in Las Vegas wouldn't have Bates' antics either. "They said that we were simulating sex on stage, which was not true. The girls were actually having a catfight like in (the 1966 Russ Meyer B-movie) Faster Pussycat Kill Kill!, " Bates recalls. The Vegas show went on - without the Voodoo Dollz. No matter though, they eluded security and mooned the crowd during the last song of the concert.

But don't be mislead by all this. Just because he's got girls in pasties setting their arms on fire while he sings about gin and demons doesn't mean his show ain't all in good fun. "You can be real dark and spooky, you can be Marilyn Manson or whatever, but I prefer the Alice Coopers to the Marilyn Mansons," Bates explains. "Life isn't worth living if you can't have a laugh."

And so Bates gleefully stirs up controversy wherever he takes his ghoulish rock'n'roll burlesque show, and the same things that have fans and critics praising the high-energy band cause others to protest. Bates recalls one woman writing to a newspaper saying she was sexually offended by one of his posters featuring an etching of the infamous Marquis de Sade. But Bates just laughs these things off and goes his own scary way. "People think their narrow-mindedness should govern - I don't believe the lowest common denominator should be the governing factor."

On the other hand, Bates and his crew were asked to play at the Athlete's village in Utah during the 2002 Winter Olympics, aand emerged un-lynched from that conservative mountain stronghold. Hell, the band was even featured in Maclean's for its efforts.

You can make your own decisions about Big John Bates as the outfit hits Winnipeg for a pair of dates at the Pyramid on Feb 20 and 21; the band is back in town again on March 10. And if you're offended, well, feel free to make a stink about the whole deal. Protest, write Big John a letter or send him an email. Bates and the rest of the group actually welcome this sort of thing. "The more controversy, the funnier it is to us," he says.