A brief reminder, should any be necessary, that we have two album launch gigs coming up in London and Medway this weekend.  If you’re in London, get yourself down/up to The Flowerpot (halfway between Kentish Town and Camden tubes) for 9pm on Friday.  This is a free gig and there are no support acts, so be there early to avoid missing out.

On Saturday night we head back down to The Medway Towns for a Crooked Family evening of Fight Folk at the Beacon Court Tavern in Gillingham.  More details in a previous blog post here.  We immodestly think it’s a fantastic line-up and hope you agree… don’t miss the support acts!  The album (and other merch) will be available on both nights.

In other news, we’re receiving positive feedback about the album, which is great to see.  Box sets were dispatched yesterday and we’re up-to-date on all other online orders.  Tour dates for November and December are filling out nicely (check the sidebar).  We’re also working on the next single release, Dorothy Deserves, due early December.

No rest for the Crooked, but we’re enjoying every minute.  See you soON?  x

PS – thanks to everyone who’s supported Jenny.  Keep those votes coming!

As we began the promotional campaign for the album a couple of months ago, I asked Mr Crook to explain its title, themes and artwork.  I included the results in the press release that we issued.  With the album’s release date almost on top of us, I thought it’d be good to put these words in front of a wider audience…

“Like everything in this life, to get the full picture one cannot rely on a single viewpoint or perspective; multiple layers can and should be explored for consideration.  There are Pros and Cons to everything in life.  Nothing is straightforward… nothing of interest, anyhow.  “Eating out” is living outside of your safety zone, being the explorer, the peasant jester, the adventurer.  As a writer, my job has always been to report back my findings.  Along the way I have met many people, some crooked, some straight, some cruel, more often kind.  What I have discovered is that every single person, if the right circumstances present themselves, will happily give themselves up to that animal instinct that burns beneath us, dormant inside of everyone.

“This can, should and probably will at some inappropriate moment come to the surface.  I say take control; learn about these instincts, because that is where the truth of oneself lies.  So too lies the reality of having to return to ‘this world’, the world with its restraints, its etiquette, its anti-instinct.  The safe and constrained environment that we have allowed to form is stupefying us, frightening us into believing that ‘this’ or ‘that’ is wrong or dangerous, when in fact these things are often  natural; more often than not, extremely instinctual.

“Some might look at the artwork that forms the front cover of this album and see something offensive: a depiction of an orgy – the type of thing that happens behind closed doors, dirty, unclean, demonic and sinful.  It is an orgy, true enough, but aside from the fact it looks like damn fine fun to me, it stands for what I am interested in: it is a celebration of not only sex but also the electric energies that can and do exist between people and which reveal what lies beyond the surface, the real feelings that possess us.  On this album, I have revealed myself.  These are my findings, my feelings and interpretations of experiences I’ve had.  This image quite simply encourages the ethos of truth.  That truth can be simultaneously invigorating, uncomfortable and mischievous… that’s no bad thing.”

Part 2, exploring connections, contradictions and anti-authoritarianism, can be found here.  x

A few weeks ago we asked you to give your support to Jenny’s work in regards to the NME Photography Competition. Thanks to your response, she has secured a place in the Finals! I’m pleased to say that of the 2 photographs that have made it into the final stages of this competition, one is the tarred and feathered picture of us, taken earlier this year (see right thumbnail below).

Once again, we’re asking for a moment of your time, so if could spare a moment and place your VOTE for Jenny in this final stage of the Competition, that would be bloody marvelous.

As most of you will know, she has been a avid supporter of our work for over 5 years now, providing documentation both on and off the stage, as well as her always enthusiastic response to the prospect of shooting something a little bit weirder, so its great to return that support – and thats where you come in! Voting ends on the 12th October, so please spread the word far and wide!

PS – if you didn’t work it out above, click on here – VOTE FOR JENNY hARDCORE.

Many many thanks, Mr CroOK.

At long last, we’re thrilled to be able to offer The Pros and Cons of Eating Out via the website.  Pre-orders are now being accepted.  You can get to the pre-order page via the Shop.

To summarise briefly, you can buy three versions:

1. standard CD (£10 plus P&P)
2. standard + bonus CD bundle (£16 plus P&P)
3. limited edition box set [SOLD OUT]

There’s a lot of information about the three album formats – not to mention plenty of pictures, of course -  in the pre-order page, but if anything’s unclear please leave us a comment and we’ll respond here and/or update the page.

The Original Sins bonus CD was a last-minute addition to the box set, only floated just over two weeks ago, sparked by the discovery of ‘thought to be lost’ demo material!  We then took the decision to also make it available in a bundle.

There are nineteen copies of the limited box set available; the twentieth is reserved for a charity auction at a later stage.  PayPal is supposed to stop any more than that being sold.  We’ve not used this feature before and hope it works!

Both the box set and bundle are available exclusively from us.  We’ll be selling the bundle at gigs too (including next weekend’s album launches in London and Medway), but for practical reasons the box set is only available via mail order.

We have so much more to say about this album.  Next week we’ll be telling you about the album’s titles, themes and artwork.  We’ll also tell you a little more about the Original Sins CD, whose full track listing is found in the Releases page.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on the pre-ordering process throughout Friday and will respond to questions and comments as quickly as possible.  Orders will be dispatched as soon as we can draw breath, almost certainly before release day.

That’s all!  I think.  I hope.  Time to press Publish and see what happens…   Hg x

So, here we go… we’ll be announcing pre-order availability of The Pros and Cons of Eating Out here on the website at 9am sharp (UK time) on Friday morning.

The album will be available in three different physical formats, including the limited edition box set that you’ve been reading about over the past few weeks.

More information on Friday.  All we can say at this stage is that there are several very good reasons for you to order as quickly as possible.  All will become apparent.

See you back here on Friday… we hope.  In the meantime, you can use the clever Amazon widgety thing above to preview extracts of every single album track.

Hg x

Busy bees sailing Crooked seas with restless ease… we trust you’ve spotted that the gig listing has expanded  over the past few days.  We’ll be announcing further dates very shortly.  More immediately, we have a couple of album launch nights coming up in both London and Medway in a fortnight’s time.  If you’re in either area, it’d be great to see you there.

First up, The Flowerpot in Kentish Town on Friday 1st October.  This is a free event at one of London’s most popular music venues.  We’ll be selling copies of the new album three days ahead of the official release date.  A night of laid-back intensity… no support acts, just pure Crooked fun and mayhem.  Stage time is fluid, get there early.  Venue opens 5pm!

The Beacon Court Tavern gig on Saturday 2nd October will be particularly special.  This is a “Crooked Family Presents…” night, which we’re curating and promoting ourselves.  We’re thrilled to be joined by The Singing Loins, The Sans Pareil and The Flowing, all of whom we’re sure you’ll enjoy.  Again, spread the word and get there early.

More information on why you should pay attention to these acts below.  If you can’t make either of these evenings, keep an eye on the gig listings for further events in your area.  Fans in the south-west of England, in particular, should be feeling very happy in the coming days.  In other news, final decisions on album pre-ordering are imminent.  Stay tuned, B sharp… x

Read the rest of this entry »

Hey weirdos. Hope all is well in hell. Updates or down dates, the potential of me delivering an informative progress report about this weeks chaos has been lost to late nights and last minute madness. Everything is up for debate, days becoming harder to define. Not even the time to take a snap shot, oh, yeah, except this scattering of twisted metal that lay confused on my desk. Everything has gone a bit like that – scattered and crazy like – herding cats in my mind. Nevertheless, faith continues to rest itself on my third eye, and if memory serves me well enough to rely on a glimpse of past times, none of this should come as a surprise.

Urgency and anxiety all rolled into some, unspoken fears for the release of our little demon. Varying  degrees of irrationality have started to bleed out from the unsolved cracks, that might have been where these fine ideas first sprang from, though back then they were contained within the realm of fantasy and imagination – twinkles in our eyes – but soon we relinquish control, and it scares me. I guess amongst  my pretention and over stated melodrama, I should not be surprised – it has arrived – the painful and terrifying final stage of delivery . . .

She walks into the room wherein which no one knows her, no soul responds to her presence, no eyes make contact with hers, no space at the table – all this and when we dream, we realise she hasn’t even walked through the door. (?)

Oh well. Oh hell. We’ll soon find out if she be a still born, or to be spat in fact, screaming blue and bloody murder into the world, covering us in purple shit and thick vernix mixed with piss – just like I know she could. Time will tell, yes it fucking will – we are well rehearsed in the arts and crafts of torture after all. Hold breath. Pour down. Close eyes. Continue.

Outside of my stupid brain, The Crooked Family is ‘all hands on deck’ – whilst I’m finishing these boxsets, the other guys are also as busy a panicked bees; putting together a video about our Crooked Summer of Hate, confirming gigs that we hope will provide a long and over due adventure around the UK during October and November, and an end of the year single release is also being planned, with a potential video that is getting us all hot under the collar – more details to follow if and when we can. Also, just found out we should receive the actual Album from the manufacturers this Friday afternoon, which may be another reason for high nerves and niggling head bugs.

I guess all is well in hell after all.

LUCIOUS CRANK

Weird and wonderful conversations that spark out of nowhere, chewed, pursued, sometimes left glued in the past for tomorrow to discover. First it was gonna be my Funeral Boots, however, as life and luck would have it, Medway based artist Daisy Parris took hold of Tom’s Upright Double Bass instead – far more exciting a project than painting some beaten leather I’ve kicked 6 Souls out of anyway. Having been fans of Daisy’s work for sometime (most recent work being especiallycool), it was great to receive these happy snaps of her progress so far, with a message from the lady herself  . . .

“The bass had met with paint twice before this final layer, each time the subject matter had been changed, each time nothing I was satisfied with was produced.
And then I realised I needed to work with a subject matter that I was really familiar with. So I scratched off some of the paint and painted it all white. This final painting is actually based on a photo of my Grandmother. And finally, it clicked.
So this is just the beginning of it all. Still got to complete the front, paint the sides and paint the back…“

We’ve got a small virtual mountain of video footage recorded at festivals and gigs over the past few months.  Plans are afoot and in hand to make good use of it in varying forms.  Here’s the closing song of the Latitude set, Hour Glass, which also appears on the new album.  x

We’ve mentioned bits in passing over the past couple of months, but now it’s time to formally announce that the third, long-awaited Lupen Crook album – The Pros and Cons of Eating Out – will be released on Monday October 4th 2010.

The album will be released on Beast Reality Records and will be available from both mainstream and indie UK music shops (via Shellshock distribution), online (mail order & download) and of course direct from the Crooked Family at gigs.

The CD version of the album will be released in a digipack based on some characteristically uncompromising artwork.  As Mr Crook mentioned the other day, the original printers refused to handle it and we had to seek a last-minute alternative.

We won’t spoil the surprise for now.  The digipack will be enclosed in a slipcase featuring the “puzzled heart” design above.  There will also be a poster in the digipack containing artwork on one side and full lyrics for all songs on the other.

The track listing is as follows:

1. Fantasist In March
2. Will O The Wisp
3. Sleeping Lions
4. Dorothy Deserves
5. World’s End
6. Devil’s Son
7. Lest We Connect The Crooked Family
8. Scissor Kick
9. Pirate’s Wife
10. How To Murder Birds
11. Hour Glass
12. Ode To Fucking Everyone

Mr Crook has already mentioned the work he’s been doing on the limited edition box set version of the album.  There will only be twenty of these.  More to follow on this over the next week so, including fuller details of exactly what it contains.

We’ll be keeping you updated on a regular basis.  Next step is to make the album available to you on pre-order.  Keep those eyes peeled… x