Derrero - Radar Intruder

There’s two songwriters Andy Fung and Ashley Cooke creating ambitious home albums since adolescence, meeting bassist Dave Hirst and multi - triggerer Mary Wycherley in the hazy context of Falmouth Art School. Trekking in a camper van all over Cornwall they bewilder various cider gliders with Gram Parsons, Neil Young and Captain Beefheart covers.

Derrero is subsequently formed merging both songwriters and their sound crafted from this. Ever willing to embrace a nomadic lifestyle, they find themselves moving en masse to Cardiff where they embark on the Good Ship "Big Noise".

Almost immediately, in June 1997 an eponymous LP is released collecting their early material. Three EP’s have followed, "Small Pocket Machine", "Radar Intruder" and "Unstraightforwardtune". Here a steady musical progression can be heard accompanied by a more substantial progression in critical and commercial acclaim.

All Derrero releases have featured heavily on national and regional radio, breaking through to daytime Radio 1 and establishing the band as favourites of evening gurus Steve Lamacq and John Peel. Two Peel sessions have since followed with "Radar Intruder" becoming a Festive Fifty and Peelenium favourite, leading to a re-issue of the classic EP in May 2000.

This progression has been mirrored on the live front where over the past two years Derrero have toured with Super Furry Animals, Catatonia, Sebadoh, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, and Grandaddy, gaining critical acclaim along the way with excellent reviews in NME and Melody Maker. The recent shows with Super Furry Animals and Grandaddy provided a perfect environment for the band to unveil material from the new album in a live context.

At the start of 2000 Derrero were widely tipped for success in the new Millenium in publications such as Melody maker and Select. They are a hive of talent and activity. Andy and Dave still paint, (Andy’s work adorns the sleeves of all recent Derrero releases). Ashley self publishes his poetry and Mary remains active with film and photography and directed the recent "Unstraightforwardtune" video. They have just finished working with John Cale on his forthcoming movie "Beautiful Mistake" where they performed a version of the Cale classic "Buffalo Ballet" with the Godfather of Punk guesting on keyboards and vocals. In May Derrero hosted a month long art exhibition in Cardiff under the title "Hybrids". The event consisted of work by all band members plus special guests including Pete Fowler and Elfyn Lewis. The opening night evolved into a precious one off sonic initiation with stunning acoustic and electronic performances from the likes of Andy and Ashley along with Gruff (SFA) and Euros, Megan and Richard (Gorkys).

For a well travelled band, "Fixation with Long Journeys" is an appropriate title but all the signs suggest that this journey will end with Derrero achieving the recognition and success they so clearly deserve.

So, what do you think? Best reviewer each month gets £10 off their next order!