If something's worth doing, it's worth doing right. An old saying totally applicable to those sensational rising stars, Narco.

Arriving in Oxford a couple of months prior to 1997's Radio One Sound City week, core members Rick Aitken and Cave found that an early demo of their track Hanging from a High Point was on the Sound City CD put together by Oxford's Band Register.

An early incarnation of Narco played one gig during Sound City, then, over the next couple of years they only played a handful of dates predominantly for the record industry. During that period, Rich and Cave signed a publishing deal with EMI and a small record deal with the South Coast-based Shiva Records the result of that partnership being the Hanging EP. Into the new millennium and, from being what seemed to be a shyness to play live, these days Narco can't get enough live exposure. A series of impressive performances on the local circuit venues culminated with Narco being elevated to headlining the Saturday night at this year's Truck Festival at Steventon.

Narco have also hooked up with Internet-based music provider Peoplesound.com a link which has spawned the new Blackmailer EP. Another spin-off has seen Narco added to the bill of this weekend's V2000 Festival on the Peoplesound stage.

Rick Aitken, bassist, vocalist and programmer with Narco, smiles as he recalls Narco's triumphant Truck headline performance.

"I kinda liked playing Truck for us it was a good gig," he said.

How did the Peoplesound collaboration come about? "Peoplesound approached us. Their view was that we're a happening band at the moment. It's thanks to Peoplesound that we've ended up on the V2000 line-up. I think we're second on the bill on Saturday at Chelmsford. And of course we've got a warm-up for V at The Kooler at The Bullingdon tonight."

Why has it taken so long for Narco to reach their potential?

"After the Hanging EP came out, we in effect went underground for a year. We had some internal problems to sort out, and at that time we weren't satisfied with the end result.

"We had a lot of things to deal with last year. To get things how we wanted them to be, took a bit of time. We feel we are stronger than we've ever been. Getting it right is important to us," Rick explained.

It's not easy to neatly categorise Narco into a convenient musical pigeonhole but they have been described as 'The Clash for the dance generation' Is this a fair comparison? "We're not a dance act," Rick said. "We use a lot of technology as part of what we do. It's sort of a controlled chaos.

"We're only doing what someone like The Clash would have done if they'd happened now. Ethically at least, 'The Clash for the dance generation' applies to Narco."

What's next? "We'll be in the studio doing some more recordings," Rick revealed. "We may be heading off to New York for a couple of dates later this year and we've got a showcase in Amsterdam soon.

"There's one or two other things although I can't say much about them at this stage. It's worth bearing in mind you have to earn everything in the music business, that includes the right to work!

Narco look set to become another high quality product of Oxford's eclectic and productive school of musical excellence.