Fugazi

All three drummers so far, Mick Pointer, Andy Ward and John Marter, had been fired. The American Jonathan Mover auditioned in London in September 1983 and was playing with the band in Germany two days later. Fish proposed a concept album like Pink Floyd's The Wall, and Mover said he called it a bad idea and was then fired. He received a writing credit for the single Punch and Judy. Ian Mosley became the drummer and began the tour before the album was finished.

The record was made at ten different studios between November 1983 and February 1984. Simon Hanhart recorded and mixed it, with Dave Meegan as an assistant engineer, and Linda Pyke sang backing vocals on Incubus. Mark Wilkinson made the sleeve, which Gigwise placed 29th in a 2012 list of the greatest album artwork. Rothery said in 2022 that the guitars were too bright and lacked warmth, and that by Misplaced Childhood in Berlin he had the best of both worlds.

Fugazi reached five in the British chart, stayed 20 weeks and was certified Gold on 9 July 1985. Punch and Judy reached 29 and Assassing 22. AllMusic's John Franck gave it four stars and picked out Assassing, Incubus and the title track. Kelly said the album cost twice as much as the debut but sold a bit less, and that the band were on a bit of a knife edge. A 2021 deluxe edition added a new remix and a concert recorded in Montreal on 20 June 1984.