Who, what, or indeed who is Mononym? Is Mononym more than just a mononym? Is he, she, or it somehow actually less ? These were all questions we were asking in 2017 when Shades of pain was on everyone's playlist, whether we wanted it there or not. How many times could we lie fallow, basking in the breezy opening track Invert Sugars before we felt very, very annoyed that we had done so? How long would it take before we realised that Angeleek consisted of no lyrics and only one chord, and even that was a simple C Major? The mononymously-titled one later revealed himself to be former Nub keyboard warrior Douglas Hemp, but by then, of course, the musical damage had already been done. And still there were more questions that remained seriously unasked. We had to wait until last year for a second Mononym album. Was it as good? No! Was it better? Again, no, and that should be implicit in the fact that it wasn't as good! But Mononym has a decent record when it comes to defying logi...

  "If I've learned one thing from 27 years in the music business it's that you can't just go around biting people on the leg" - the words of Plinth Drummer Nobby Cobworth, shortly before his death from Psoriasis last year. It would be easy to dismiss such characteristic outbursts as mere attention-seeking, but if anything Plinth were a band that should've sought more attention, and such much-sought-after attention would've been richly deserved. Cobworth first met guitarist Ron Broth and bass player Andy Whelks in the mid-1990s when the duo were working in the Dragon, Wagon and Flagon pub in Droylsden, and performing as Chocolate Sikh every other Friday with singer Hattie Latimer. He convinced them that success was imminent, so long as they changed their name and let him join the band. And had a flexible definition of the word 'imminent'. Also, Hattie wouldn't be allowed to sing, but had to provide sexual services. A demanding set of request...