Pookie Hudson chats to a band named after an extinct Hawaiian bird. Bizarre or what?

Don't make the mistake of calling Welsh wizards Mo-Ho-Bish-O-Pi an art-school band. It upsets them. They prefer to be described as a band of new-wave white-trash sonic terrorists. Quite.

The band's front man, Martin Bimrose, has gone on record as saying: "We're not an art-school band. We've just got open minds, that's all."

Just 18 months ago they released the Vitamin EP on the Cardiff-based label FF Vinyl and now they have been snapped up by Richard Branson's V2 label.

But what about that name. Bizarre or what? It came about when Martin was idly flicking through an old copy of the Readers Digest and discovered that Mo-ho-bish-o-pi was the name of a now extinct Hawaiian bird.

But if you ask him why he chose it as a label for the band, his stock response is: "It doesn't really matter, what's in a name?"

Live Mo-Ho-Bish-O-Pi have been described as 'watching the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and the Beta Band play pass the parcel, while Andy Warhol operates the tape player'.

Their debut single for V2, called Hear The Air, is set for release on June 19. But regular listeners to Radio One's Evening Session will be more than aware of the Welsh wizards thanks to Steve Lamacq who has been playing the track Smoke Yourself Thin. And, over the past fortnight in the listeners' phone poll, Mo-Ho-Bish-O-Pi's new single has been the punter's top choice on consecutive weeks.

But it's not just the underground and cult radio shows who've picked up on Mo-Ho-Bish-O-Pi, they've enjoyed daytime Radio One exposure with their forthcoming single on the Jo Whiley show this week.

Mo-Ho-Bish-O-Pi head off on their first UK tour this month but the band is playing a trio of selected one-off dates prior to the tour. The first being an appearance at The Kooler at The Bullingdon tonight, alongside Billy Mahonie, Q-Sling and local boys Silverback.

This gives the people of Oxford the chance to get in at the ground floor. Catch them before they get too famous.