The story of Pluto Monkey starts, not at the dawn of time, but with Dawn of the Replicants. The Replicants were five Galashiels misfits who attempted to turn pop inside out. Their adventurous streak earned them a deal with East West, who foolishly believed they could tame them. When they realised this was impossible, they released them into the wild.

Two fifths of the Replicants, Paul Vickers and Roger Simian, finding themselves free of the imperative even to write such frazzled pop gems as 'Cocaine on the Catwalk', 'Science Fiction Freak' and 'Candlefire' (a Mark Radcliffe Single of the Week), set about deconstructing pop still further. They traded in their Ibanez guitars and Marshall amps for cheap Yamaha samplers, second-hand theramins and dodgy machines with numbers in their names and Pluto Monkey was born.

The resulting noise was an elaboration on the electronic soundscapes established on such Dawn of the Replicants fodder as 'Skullcrusher', 'Sub Erotic Fields' and 'Leaving So Soon'. Pluto Monkey create a futurist Fuzzy-Felt world of drunken lullabies with dark rolling eyes. Any further attempt at describing their sound tends to get very lost somewhere to the left of Orion.

The first solid fruits of Paul and Roger's experimentation was a four-track demo which they proffered to assorted left-leaning labels. Shifty Disco, leaning slightly more to the left than the rest, snapped them up immediately and released the band's debut single, 'Jet Stream' b/w 'Gymnastics', as part of their monthly singles club. The response to the single, an awkward collision of warped melody and typewriters, was unanimously positive. John Peel commissioned a session, which was broadcast in April this year.

With a shared belief in the more eclectic side of pop life, Pluto Monkey and Shifty Disco became inexorably bonded and a deal was signed. With a long-standing reputation as prolific songwriters, it was no surprise that Paul and Roger managed to write and record an album in only nine days. Entitled 'Little Brenda: Bluegrass Mission', it was released in September 2000 with a single, 'Joe Meek', in October of that year. The band are currently writing and recording new material in an expanded line-up.

Despite the live restrictions imposed on them by being a mere duo, Pluto Monkey made a triumphant gig debut in April as support to Unbelievable Truth in London. For them there are no such things as barriers or boundaries. If they can dream it they can do it. And Pluto Monkey have very strange dreams…