AFTER losing Rock Bitch earlier this year, Newport's Jesters makes another go of it with Cubare, Janiero and Chang next week.

Cubare, one of the new wave of punk coming from South Wales at the moment, are the headliners, weeks away from shipping west for a tour of Mexico.

Janiero are set to record this month, as well as play numerous Welsh dates, while Chang have played widely and appeared in umpteen magazines.

Headliners Cubare are one point of a tripod of bands with El Goodo and the late, split Murray the Hump, although they are now more aligned to Cardiff punk bands Mclusky and Samo Hung.

Their music can be found on the tenth Boobytrap singles club single, which was released on Monday, August 20.

A-side, Punx Snot Dead, It Just Sux Now takes the Michael out of the whole generation of ego-laden late teens squeaking away in fake American accents, desperate to be punk.

Bass player Aidan Patrick Tadeusz Mahony, the one with the beard from Queens of the Stone Age, said that these punks have a go at boy bands but their own stuff is not even a step away from it. "It's the Monkees speeded up," he said.

Aidan is joined by Max Norman Brindley Hicks on vocals and guitar, Colin Anthony Green on guitar/ vocals and Darren Wayne Griffiths on drums.

"We're riff-based, jamming- based, with no specific song writer. We're a democratic collective, that way we don't fight over who did what," he said. "We all write parts for each other and share the lyrics. But we don't improvise at gigs, unless something goes wrong!"

Cubare formed in 1997, starting off with slow Mogwai-like drones but ditched them because they felt a bit cheeky doing it, said Aidan. "We like to give people a bit more narrative," he said.

In their time they have had a six-month residency at the Zone in Swansea and have played with The Crocketts, Number One Cup and Topper. They are also mates and the philosophical brethren of Mclusky.

They cite Pixies, Shellac, Jon Spencer, Wedding Present, the films of John Carpenter, the films of Takeshi and Kitano as influences.

Influences thrown at them include Gang of Four although Aidan says none of the band own a Gang of Four record.

* Cubare, Janiero and Chang play Jesters, Stow Hill, Newport, on Thursday.