Corduroy were a four-piece acid jazz outfit based in London, formed around twins Ben Addison (drums/vocals) and Scott Addison (keyboards/vocals), who were previously in Sire Records act Boys Wonder (Scott had been guitarist with Boys Wonder, while Ben had been the lead vocalist). Joining the twins in the band were Richard Searle and guitarist Simon Nelson-Smith. Searle had been bass player with Doctor and the Medics, who topped the UK Singles Chart in 1986 with a cover version of "Spirit in the Sky". Searle had joined the Addison twins in the final incarnation of Boys Wonder, before the band gradually evolved into Corduroy in 1991, initially forming for a one-off New Year's Eve party.

The self-dubbed "fabric four" primarily recorded in a film soundtrack style, and many of their tracks were instrumentals. On the release of their first album Dad Man Cat, Paul Moody wrote in the New Musical Express: “Whereas the rest of the Acid Jazz roster fidget around in a world of skinny ribbed roll-necks comparing sideburn growth, Corduroy manage to swagger through the same po-faced domain with a couldn’t-care-less braggadocio... Corduroy have got their collective tongue stuck firmly in someone else’s cheek here and it feels staggeringly good.”