Sergeant Buzfuz are a seven-piece band based in London. Their musical style has been referred to as

indie folk Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music. Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of traditional folk music with contemporary instrumentation. The genre has its ...

, psychedelic pop and

anti-folk Anti-folk (sometimes referred to as unfolk) is a music genre that emerged in the 1980s in response to the remnants of the 1960s folk music scene. Anti-folk music was made to mock the perceived seriousness of the time's mainstream music scene, a ...

. They take their name from a character in '' The Pickwick Papers'' by Charles Dickens. The current line-up consists of core member Joe Murphy (vocals, guitar), Eilish McCracken (fiddle, flute, whistle), William Barr (mandolin),

Ian Button Ian Button (born 16 April 1962) is an English guitarist best known for his work in the bands Thrashing Doves (1985-1991) and Death In Vegas (1994-2011). Button was one of a core of additional musicians originally brought in by Death In Vegas fo ...

(drums), Polly MacLean (backing vocals), Joss Cope (bass) and Stu Crane (guitar). To date the band have released six studio albums, one extended play (EP), and seven

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

History

The band was originally formed by Joe Murphy (vocals, guitar) in 1993 along with Chris Thomas (guitar), Cherrie Fox (drums) and Richard Cahill (bass). This incarnation of the band ceased performing in 1996, after which Murphy continued as a solo artist (still using the Sergeant Buzfuz name) on the single "Plugged In" (2001) and album ''Obsessive Compulsion Pour Homme'' (2001), on which Murphy played all instruments. Timothy Victor (Folk Orchestra,

Broken Family Band The Broken Family Band was a British rock band from Cambridge and London. The band was formed in Cambridge, England by Steven Adams, Jay Williams, Micky Roman and Gavin Johnson in 2001, following the break-up of Adams and Williams' indie ro ...

, Chris T-T) would perform banjo with Murphy at this time. The album ''Fire Horse'' (2004) was again mostly a solo recording but by the time of its release Sergeant Buzfuz were performing as a full band again with Kate Arnold on hammered dulcimer, Eilish McCracken (

Rose McDowall Rose McDowall (née Porter; born 21 October 1959) is a Scottish musician, forming Strawberry Switchblade with Jill Bryson in 1981. History McDowall was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1959. Her first venture into music was in the Poems, an art-pun ...

) on violin, Jon Clayton (who has produced all Sergeant Buzfuz albums in his One Cat studio) on cello and Martin Parker on drums. This line-up recorded 2006's ''The Jewelled Carriageway''. Timothy Victor contributed banjo to both ''Fire Horse'' and ''The Jewelled Carriageway''. In 2008 Jon Clayton left to concentrate on his many other bands and was replaced by John Paul Jones (not to be confused with the Led Zeppelin bassist). The band's fourth album was 2009's ''High Slang''. During the recording of the album, Parker was ousted and replaced by

(

Death in Vegas Death in Vegas are an English electronic music group, for which Richard Fearless serves as frontman. The band was formed in 1994 by Fearless and Steve Hellier and signed to Concrete Records under the name of Dead Elvis. Owing to an Irish record ...

) on drums for the remainder of the recording. Rich Keeble took over the drum stool and William Barr joined on mandolin in time for the album's release, the new line-up recording BBC 6Music sessions for Tom Robinson (2008) and Marc Riley (2009). By the time the band recorded a second session for Tom Robinson in 2010, Keeble (now an actor) had left to be replaced by Ian Button, and Jones had been ousted and replaced with Stephen Gilchrist (

Art Brut Art Brut are a Berlin-based English and German indie rock band. Their debut album, '' Bang Bang Rock & Roll'', was released on 30 May 2005, with its follow up, ''It's a Bit Complicated'', released on 25 June 2007. Named after French painter Je ...

, Graham Coxon). ''Go To The Devil And Shake Yourself'' (2012) was a concept album documenting the history of the papacy. By the time of its release Gilchrist had left to be replaced by Andy Crowe on bass, and Kate Arnold had left to form Fear Of The Forest, teaming up again with Sergeant Buzfuz producer and ex-cellist Jon Clayton. Murphy and Polly MacLean, singer with Slate Islands, performed the album for sixteen nights at the Edinburgh Free Fringe in 2012. In the same year, Crowe left and was replaced by George Brufton on bass who played on, but left before the release of, 2015's ''Balloons For Thin Linda''. By the time of release the band had expanded to a seven piece line-up with Polly MacLean on backing vocals, Stu Crane on electric cigar box slide guitar and Joss Cope (

Biff Bang Pow! Biff Bang Pow! were an indie pop band from London, England, active between 1983 and 1991, centering on Creation Records boss Alan McGee. History Glaswegian Alan McGee had previously been in the band The Laughing Apple, who released three single ...

, Crash, brother of

Julian Cope Julian David Cope (born 21 October 1957) is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side proj ...

) on bass.

Blang Records

In 2002, Murphy began promoting a monthly night named Blang at London's

12 Bar Club The 12 Bar Club was a music venue in London that opened in 1994 on Denmark Street – known as Great Britain's "Tin Pan Alley" – just off Charing Cross Road and close to Soho. Some of the most famous musicians and groups to play at the ...

where he regularly put on acts from the New York

scene. Blang became the hub for British anti-folk music. Murphy continued to promote his Blang nights at the 12 Bar Club until 2012, ending on the ten year anniversary. The early Sergeant Buzfuz records were released on his own Audio Gland label. In 2005 he launched a new Blang label with the ''Fruit Machine'' compilation of acts who had played at the live nights. Subsequent Sergeant Buzfuz records have all been released on Blang, which he co-runs with Jules Dakin (AKA JJ Crash of the band Lucy's Diary). The label has released records by many acts including

David Cronenberg's Wife David Cronenberg's Wife is a London-based band. The name is taken from the Canadian film-maker and actor David Cronenberg. Described as "where genius meets idiocy" by BBC Radio 2's Mark Lamarr, the band's lyrics combine dark subject matter w ...

Filthy Pedro Filthy Pedro is an antifolk musician based in London. Born Simon Parry in Anglesey, Wales, he moved to London in the late 1990s. Parry had grown interested in antifolk after hearing Beck's '' Stereopathetic Soulmanure'' album (1994). However, it w ...

, Milk Kan,

Thomas Truax Thomas Truax ( ) is an American songwriter, performer, animator, and inventor of experimental musical instruments. Biography Truax first came to prominence as a solo performer in the 1990s in New York City as one of a group of musicians and so ...

, Sheepy, Lucy's Diary and Thee Cee Cees, whose singer Chris T-T originally advised Joe Murphy on how to set up a record label and recorded parts of ''Obsessive Compulsion Pour Homme'' in his bedroom back in 1999.

Band members

; Current members * Joe Murphy - vocals, guitar (1993–present) * Eilish McCracken - fiddle, flute, whistle (2006–present) * William Barr - mandolin (2008–present) *

- drums (2008, 2009–present) * Polly MacLean - backing vocals (2013–present) * Joss Cope - bass (2014–present) * Stu Crane - guitar (2014–present) ; Former members * George Brufton - bass (2012-2013) * Andy Crowe - bass (2011-2012) * Stephen Gilchrist - bass (2011) * John Paul Jones - bass (2008-2011) * Kate Arnold - hammered dulcimer, violin, vox (2001–2010) * Rich Keeble - drums (2008-2009) * Martin Parker - drums (2003–2008) * Jon Clayton - cello (2003–2008) * Timothy Victor - banjo (2001, 2004–2006) * Cherrie Fox - drums (1993-1996) * Chris Thomas - guitar (1993-1996) * Richard Cahill - bass (1994-1995)

Discography

All released on Blang except where stated.

Studio albums

* ''Obsessive Compulsion Pour Homme'' (January 2001, CD Audio Gland Records) * ''Fire Horse'' (March 2004, CD Audio Gland Records) * ''The Jewelled Carriageway'' (September 2006, CD/download) * ''High Slang'' (February 2009, CD/download) * ''Go To The Devil And Shake Yourself'' (April 2012, CD/download) * ''Balloons For Thin Linda'' (April 2015, CD/vinyl/download)

EPs

* ''Knock Knock Knock'' (February 2011, download)

Singles

* "Plugged In" (January 2001, 7" Audio Gland Records) * "Here Come The Popes Part 3" (September 2008, 7" vinyl) * "God To Holloway" (January 2009, download) * "Here Come The Popes Part 4" / "Here Come The Cops" (March 2010, download) * "Danny's Room" / "Molly's Bar" (May 2011, download) * "Gold Feelings" / "Cuckoo Boogie" (December 2014) * "S6 Girls" / "S6 Sunday Morning" (March 2015)

Compilation Appearances

* "Indelible" on ''Fruit Machine (26 Seeds From The London Underground)'' (September 2005) * "Adieu To All Judges And Juries" (Murphy solo) on ''Shirley Inspired'' (June 2015, Earth)

Joe Murphy solo (as Joe Buzfuz)

* "Now That I'm The Mayor Of London" (Download Single - March 2016)

References

External links

Official Website

Blang Label Website
{{Authority control British musical septets English indie pop groups English rock music groups Musical groups established in 1993