Having nearly but not quite set Bolton, Manchester, England, The World alight with his first band the Irony Board, John Hartley packed his musical alter ego Johny Nocash into a bag and travelled down the M6 to build a new life on the periphery of London.

The sequel to the acclaimed musical memoir 'Capturing the Wry', John Hartley's 'Welcome to the Underachievers' picks up the story in the mid-1990s. In the unlikely setting of a first floor unit in an industrial estate on the outskirts of Southall he finds a musical kindred spirit in Jacques Cachecarte and the pair embark on a plan to subvert the world of indiepop.

Featuring evening residencies in upstairs Highgate tearooms, car-crashing record company executives in sheepskin coats and a foreword by Richard Blackborow of legendary UK indie band BOB, 'Welcome to the Underachievers' is a must-read for anyone familiar with hopes, dreams and unfulfilled ambition.