Introducing... Moco

Sprawled on the stage with wig askew and ear to ear grin, live wire lead singer of Moco Steve 'Mobile' Jones is taking a well earned breather after a typically furious set supporting the Warlocks in Manchester's Roadhouse venue. It's been an eventful 12 months for these natives of Wigan and "the best unsigned band in the UK" (TM).

There's been an NME Single of the Week in the trash-glam punk of 'Where She Goes' (Poolside Records), "definitely one of the high's of last year" according to Jones and... Danger! Danger! High Voltage! gigs with Top 40 scaling electro garage rockers The Electric Six.

So how did they reach the point of being on this self described "cusp of a lot of good stuff"? Well, there was Granada TV's 'This is Music' and a series of gigs around Manchester where they've managed to build up a passionate and loyal fan base.

"We got known on the Manchester music scene, coming down playing places like this [The Roadhouse]" enthuses Jones politely, displaying a schizophrenic personality change compared to the bastard spirit of Iggy Pop and Jarvis Cocker that possesses him on stage. "Y'know, you can get gigs in Wigan" states bassist Nick 'Loverboy' Higham in support, "but if you wanna get somewhere you've gotta get out of the town that you're in. Even if it's Wigan"

With Anthony 'The Worm' Rigby (Guitar) and Simon 'Monkeyboy' Misra (Drums) completing the line up - each have their own rock n'roll moniker Rocket from The Crypt/Alabama 3/Hives style - it wasn't long before Moco were attracting attention from fellow Manchester bands Elbow, Alfie and The Charlatans.

Clearly pleased with the willingness of local bands to pitch in and provide support to one another, "there's a healthy competitiveness... but it's all very good natured", a new single is out on the 12th May ('Miss Mantaray'), and more dates with Electric 6 pencilled in. Perched on the cusp, expect Moco to be gatecrashing 2003 in spectacular style.

For more information, go to www.mocohq.com

Photo by Andy Day