"I've got a Cotton Fever and the only cure is: Loud Guitars!" (Christopher Walken*) Show me your MySpace-friends and I will tell you who you are. This new wisdom on the wall certainly works for Cotton Fever. On MySpace.com/CottonFever1 the rockers from Roosendaal can call, amongst others, Weezer, Queens of the Stone Age, Green Day and dEUS their friends. Those who are familiar with the quartet from Brabant, or who saw them play the stage to shreds, will smile in recognition at this list. Indeed Cotton Fever is like Franz Ferdinand (but without the Russian art obsession), like Queens of the Stone Age (but without the tattoos), like Green Day (but without the brat punk kid manners) and like dEUS (but without the look-mommy-we're-badasses-attitude).

In all seriousness: Cotton Fever has an excellent taste for music, but is first and foremost playing its own tune. "Completed, catchy melodies that determine the face of the songs", reviewed Aardschok. "The foursome has an eye and ear for detail. Every now and then there's some great chords and within a song there's enough dynamical variation", Musicfrom.nl praised. "Intense, sexy and wayward", cheered FRET. "The bliss of performing is flying from the speakers", admired Pobsessie. "Hang in there, guys!", rooted Rifraf. And then we're not even mentioning the enthusiastic audiences at festivals like BeachBattle, Tofpop, Breda Barst and in music halls like 013, P60 and Café Stroop in Oudenbosch (you can easily call it: Café Cotton Fever, it's an utter madhouse there), audiences that usually shout things like: "More!", "Louder!" and "What's your phone number?"

Cotton Fever is touring town and country since 1996 and has since then been in unaltered existence: Wouter Stroop (guitar, vocals), Remco Visser (vocals, guitar), Leon van der Kleij (bass) and Martijn Wijnings (drums). Never change a winning team! Two demo recordings cleared the path towards two full CDs: Cruz (2001) and La Fete de la Pluche (2005, sorry about the typo), both produced by Patrick Delabie (the Phil Spector of Wernhout), who were both well received by the local and wide regional press. In band contests like Emergenza, Wraak van Brabant and during the National Musicians Day, Cotton Fever stunned top producers like Peer Raven and Michel Schoots. And, in all modesty, you can't blame them...

Eight years of playing together, fiddling together and writing together has lead to an "intense, sexy and wayward rock sound" that draws close to perfection. But the chase is better than the catch, so you can reckon that the pursuit of perfection will continue. Stayers always win, that much is certain.

(* this was not what Christopher Walken said in the famous "cowbell"- sketch on Saturday Night Live, but he could have said it, if Cotton Fever instead of Blue Öysters Cult had stood beside him. Honestly!)