The Manic Street Preachers are turning back to their 'punk' roots with the launch of a limited-edition assault on the pop charts.

The Welsh band release Masses Against the Classes on Monday with just 10,000 copies available.

But music writer Simon Price said the appeal of snapping up the single could fulfill one of the Manics' wishes to depose the likes of Westlife at number one in the charts.

Charts attack

The author of "Everything - A Book About the Manic Street Preachers" said there was every chance that the quietness of the January charts would mean the number-one hope could become a reality.

Bassist Nicky Wire launched a vitriolic attack on the charts at the band's Millennium Stadium concert on New Year's Eve, expressing his despair at the bland, boy-band singles being produced.

Mr Price said the band could find themselves with the first new number one of the millennium with Masses Against the Classes.

"In January, it is a well-known fact that anyone can get to number one and I think 10,000 copies is enough," said Mr Price.

However, he dismissed the idea that the band was running out of ideas to sell records.

'Spread the message'

"They always were a Marxist-Transvestite-punk-rock band and they pretty much still are.

"If you saw Nicky Wire at the Millennium Stadium gig wearing a pink dress and as much make-up as Vanessa Feltz you could not argue with that.

"They have always wanted to use their music to reach a mass audience to spread their message and at the Millennium gig they were selling t-shirts with quotes from Mao Tse Tung.

"Although, there is a certain irony in using communist ideology to oil the capitalist wheels of their own merchandising."

The credibility of the Welsh music scene is high at present, with the Super Furry Animals announcing their intention to release a new album in Welsh.