CHUGGERS plays pop! Sal, the Welsh band, are back heavier and chunkier than ever for the release of their debut album, Dysfunctional. They've got riff-reinforced guitar-built walls, 21st feminist lyrics and enough extra touches to separate Sal from the rest.

Noog on guitar does a good job of placing them next in line for the Welsh rock crown currently sinking somewhere between Stereophonics and Feeder.

Kev on bass and Denley on drums are also giving Lostprophets a run for their baggy shorts and piercings, with tracks like Death Ray.

Producer Greg Haver has given them that radio-friendly edge with drum and other sound effects.

Cat on vocals (there is no Sal) takes centre stage with her, one presumes, songs for a modern Wales.

Suffer in Silence, the album's opener, could be an anthem for beaten women in Wales.

With lines like, 'you change when you've been drinking', you can almost see the bruises rise as the sun sets on an unsuccessful match day. On Perfect it's a man that suffers at the claws of 'that bitch that you're with', while Cat sits glumly on the side lines.

Then on Desperate and Dateless she don't need a man anyway and she drives cliff-wards them so many Thelma and Louises.

Death Ray is as metal as Sal get (there's even some tapping work) and ends Dysfunctional's initial attack.

Tomorrow I'll Be Gone follows and it's a bit too Alanis Morissette for comfort, like Sal were trying to hit all the buttons hoping to do one successfully.

They're a good band who seem to have been "primed for the big time" for years and years.

There's a danger that in trying to please everyone that never satisfy anyone and float helplessly towards nowhere.

Dysfunctional is out soon and will be followed by a UK tour.