An evening with The Cutlery Drawer + Sister Chain & Brother John at Cafe No9

Event information

The Cutlery Drawer contains Joe Murphy (Sergeant Buzfuz) and Polly MacLean (Slate Islands)

Joe was born into a Sheffield Irish family whose men all worked in steel factories while he misspent his youth listening to John Peel and the inevitable Irish folk music. His band Sergeant Buzfuz has played three live BBC 6 Music sessions and released seven albums, including a concept album about the first fourteen centuries of the papacy which earned the surprising endorsement of author Ian Rankin.

Praise for Joe’s music includes:

"That is, I do believe, what you call a pop tune" - Marc Riley, 6 Music

“Absolutely brilliant” - Tom Robinson, 6 Music

"Wry storytelling, sharp tongued in the most amiable way" - Shindig

Polly grew up on a small island in the Inner Hebrides. Early influences included Scottish and Eastern European folk music, French chanson, the songs of Tom Lehrer, and the discovery of a dead heron on the shore. Her band Slate Islands has played at the the Mosley Folk Festival, recorded a BBC 6 Music session, and contributed a track to the critically acclaimed Shirley Collins tribute album ‘Shirley Inspired’.

Praise for Polly’s music includes:

"Wonderful" - Shirley Collins

“Witty and more than a little disturbing” – SoundsXP

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The duo Sister chain & Brother John formed in the mid-aughties when singer and poet Sister Chain – of Skin Blues and Spinster Sister – met Brother John Higgins – former frontman of London band Val's Basement and fly-by- night producer – in a mysterious Berlin bookshop.

Since that day they've performed worldwide in dungeons and churches, on boats, street corners and gambling houses as well as the usual nightclubs, festivals and concert halls. They've released several vinyl babies and a couple of flesh and blood ones into the world, and with their latest digital release “Number 10” have been raising money for the RMT strike fund.
Looking like Victorian gentlefolk, wielding a bass guitar and a circus drum, Sister Chain & Brother John sing tales of the wicked set and the lovelorn, of moonage daydreams and erotic nightmares, celebrating the musical stories of London club cads and tipsy country ghosts, misled heiresses, feverish painters, Vegas vagabonds and deranged dominas in a show that can best be described as parlour punk or electric music-hall.

Praise for Sister Chain & Brother John:

"Weird and wonderful...gloriously bizarre, perfectly minimalist" – Christian Carlisle, BBC Introducing

“Subversive, interesting and unique. What more could you want?” – Gareth Owen, Electronic Beats

“Strange, seductive, macabre and highly dramatic...there’s something absolutely alluring about Sister Chain & Brother John’s peculiar world” – Gaffa Magazine, Denmark

"They are fantastic. You have to see them live" – Jennebo Radio, Sweden

Sister Chain & Brother John are something else: Esther Ofarim and Klaus Nomi spring to mind, but also Bauhaus and The Sisters of Mercy, the Brecht and Kurt Weill cabaret and Lotte Lenya... I am at their show now and I am melting with pleasure – Michael Rorberger, the Town Mouse

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Please note this ticket price DOES include a BYOB fee should you wish to bring alcohol to the venue.

All additional purchases of drinks and sweet treats from the cafe counter are always very much appreciated.