THE Toucan Club in Cardiff welcomes the quirky lo-fi rock band Big Strides this weekend.

Find them in the capital on Saturday, April 16, and in Moles, Bath, on Sunday, April 17.

The band mix jazz and punk with catchy results, as heard on the band's debut single, Suicidal.

It's been available as a download-only single for some months, in which time 300,000 people in the USA alone have downloaded it.

On Monday, May 3, it gets an official terrestrial release on Tall Order Records, followed by their debut album, Small Town, Big Strides on Monday, June 6.

The band has off-kilter lyrics, a blues guitar jangle and wailing harmonica courtesy of Marcus O'Neill.

Lewis Kirk plays the funkiest and weirdest drums since Tour Mask Replica.

And Tom Pi's fat double bass would even sound at home in the White Stripes.

Marcus explains the band's music: "We don't want to be a rock band that shuts out the influence of all the great old- time stuff, so we have to stand firm.

"Jazz and blues aren't soft, they're dirty, like punk."