This is a review of "Repetition With Variation" recorded by MonMon. The review was written by John Hepworth in 2007.

Could MonMon be one of those bands for whom things unfold slowly? Having listened a few times, it’s a puzzle why the worth of Repetition With Variation didn’t hit me straight away. Often a sign of underlying complexity in music, it can’t explain how the EP lingered months among the unchosen in LMS’s file of stuff for review (where the cover picture isn’t shown, so that’s not it). Have they perhaps less appetite for publicity than they have for their music?

Anyway, four songs with a nice variety of styles: firstly ‘No.1 The King Of The Slums’ which develops out of something like a talking blues with rich instrumental backing, and is intriguingly reminiscent of the Floridan Jim White’s ‘Bound To Forget’. Effectively though he uses it, Andrew Mills’s singing voice never sounds as if it’s having an easy time, and this suits the processional ‘Michael’ less than it does the punkier ‘Telebhisean’ that follows it. There’s some decent playing going on, particularly with David Nolan’s guitar getting well into the dynamics of the concluding ‘Saturday Night In The Swim’ and elsewhere.

For those who like a bit of fun reading lyrics, they’re in reversed type – perhaps giving the misleading impression they’re the tucked-away answer to the above-mentioned puzzle.