So Twisted Wheel is off the wagon and Jonny Brown is on it. The demise of the band seemed improbable for as long as Brown was alive and kicking. Having weathered three break-ups and new line-ups, it was beginning to look like the Sugarbabes of rock. The band first emerged as a stellar, incendiary three piece from Oldham in 2008 and gained the respect, admiration and support slots with Oasis, Kasabian, Paul Weller, Ian Brown, Happy Mondays ,The View ,The Enemy to name but a few.

The band sold out 95% of its shows on its first UK , Japanese and European tours, years of festivals from T in the Park, Leeds and Reading to Kendal Calling and emerging new ones as well as relentlessly touring the byways, alleyways and smaller towns the width and breadth of England and Scotland.

However, while Twisted Wheel’s eponymous debut album was undoubtedly full of charisma, feral authentic lyrics and simple, elegant melodies, the more prosaic pieces were left on the sidelines in favour of the anthems and stomps.

Management secured the album back from Columbia and Brown decided to steam ahead with a new line up for the second album. The strength of the songs meant he would always be able to continue with Twisted Wheel – in fact, it had become an expectation. He would kickstart the same machine time after time based on the songs alone and the shared passion of himself and committed TW fans. The inevitable truth couldn’t be disguised for long: TW was a beast driven by one man who, for various reasons, needed it to exist.

Until the spring of 2014 when, after the rigours of a radical rake-over, he emerged realising disappointing expectations was less of a failure than neglecting an unfulfilled calling.

Twisted Wheel inevitably served its purpose but now it’s time for Jonny Brown to make good on his long-overdue promise.