In my last missive I mentioned Left My Heart in Tokyo, and the fortunes of the Mini Viva girls – Brit and Frankee – have gone in somewhat different directions since their one wonderful hit. Britt resorted to an ill-fated stint on The X Factor, while Frankee has joined one of Britain’s best under-the-radar girlbands.

M.O have been bubbling under for the last couple of years and putting out some brilliant dancehall-tinged tracks. Their stuff is a blend of old school R&B, reggae, pop and elements of underground house and garage. I could wax lyrical about their Sweet Female Attitude-sampling banger Dance On My Own, or the positively threatening On Ya, but the one song you need to hear is Hot.

And it is seriously Hot. Although coming in well under the optimum pop length of 3:20, this track is just long enough to make sexually aggressive advances towards someone on the dance floor before trotting off to the bar, leaving them nursing a hard-on and a dented ego.

M.O were named on a couple of ‘one to watch’ lists when they first surfaced in 2013, so why they aren’t huge already? I can only assume it’s because they’re hamstrung by a pretty terrible name (the emergence of MØ around the same time can’t be helping) and the three of them look like Sports Direct staff who’d rather not be serving your sorry, hungover arse on a Saturday morning. If Little Mix have taught us anything, it’s that we like our girlbands sexless and unthreatening.

Now, for the good news; you might think the momentum is gone but their Twitter and Facebook accounts are still very active, they’re currently rehearsing for a new music video, and Frankee is still serving the best blonde ‘fro this side of Fleur East, all of which bodes well – the door is open for a Mis-Teeq successor to descend on the charts.

M.O… ENTAH!

Entered chart: did not chart

Who could sing this today and have a hit? If Little Mix‘s long-in-the-gestation third album sounds anything like this, it will take all my self-control not to slut-drop a fellow passenger on my morning commute.

Published by Luke Geoffrey

Luke is a 36-year-old copywriter who lives and loves - and loves to live - in Manchester. He sews, cooks and obsesses about pop music. And his waistline. View all posts by Luke Geoffrey