Mexican Pets

Mexican Pets
Origin	Dublin, Ireland
Genres	Indie/Punk rock
Years active	1990–present?
Labels	None
Website	Irish Music Central Site
Members
Pat Clafferty (guitar, vocals) Derrick Dalton (bass guitar) Fionan O Leary (drums) Brian Gough (guitar, vocals, organ)

Mexican Pets were formed by Pat Clafferty and Jill Hahn in Dublin, Ireland in 1990 inspired by American bands such as Hüsker Dü and Dinosaur Jr. The two soon drafted the late Derrick Dalton in on bass whose distinct and accomplished style was an invaluable contribution to the bands sound. The band never featured a permanent drummer and a string of players graced the stool. Having made several demo recordings and playing extensive gigs around the country, they had their first break up. Each of its members pursued other musical interests until the spring of 1994 when they reformed. In that same year they found a permanent drummer in Fionan O Leary. Jill Hahn then moved to Manchester, replaced by Brian Gough on other guitar and organ. They recorded their first album Nobody's Working Title on Independent Records that summer and continued to play across the country.

It was then that Andy Cairns from northern rockers Therapy? released four singles on his label Blunt. Two of these singles featured the songs off the bands first record and 6 brand new songs were quickly penned for the final two. This was also released on CD format under the title "The Voice of Trucker Youth". Every one of the four singles was each awarded 'single of the week' by Hot Press.

In 1995, Derrick Dalton left and was replaced by John Duff. The band began to play their first gigs in London, frequenting the infamous venues in Camden town and it was not long before they came to the attention of the legendary Seymour Stein who came to see them play with The Poster Children and Steelpole Bathtub in London. 1996 saw The Pets tour in Germany and the Netherlands and several return visits to London. In August of that year they recorded their final album Humbucker which featured a tougher guitar driven sound. The record was again funded by Cairns who had become an invaluable patron of the band.

Having promoted the record with a series of gigs and a brief tour of England the band called it a day in May 1997.

In 2006, following discussions between Clafferty, O Leary and Gough, the band was kick started once more. The late Derrick Dalton, who was playing in the band Crumb, was asked if he would pick up his Bass once more. Thankfully he agreed.

The band wish to publicly thank Dave O'Grady for his tireless and challenging work in managing the band. We also wish to say thank you to Dan Oggly and Andy Cairns. Finally, it looks as if the band will never regroup again as a mark of respect to Derrick.

Discography

Albums

• Nobody's Working Title (1994)
• The Voice Of Trucker Youth (1996)
• Humbucker (1997)

Singles

• Subside (1995)
• How To Have More Fun (1995)
• Diana The Moon (1995)
• Where's My Pony / Mackerel Sky High (1995)
• Supermarket (1997)

External links

• Irish Music Central Site
• Official MySpace page