Quick one, just to let you know that on this gorgeous sunny morning -  finally got some new bits in the Shop section of the website. The jewellery that Lucy Langridge and myself made over the Summer is now available to order – a lovely little Broken Heart pendant, a Silver Magpie, and the previously available Puzzle Piece and Curious Kitten design. Let us know your thoughts, all appreciated innit.

Also, a small selection of my ‘CAN’T BEAR’ designs have been made into greetings cards and postcards – for any of you who are prone to despair and disgust at this time of year, this might be well up your street. All the greeting cards come with a original verse on the flip side which some might find a silly bit of dark humour or otherwise rightfully hate filled and entirely relevant. Great for the cynics amongst you all. In view of this current and crooked season of birthdays, here’s a timely verse which appears on the back of 1 of the 2 CAN’T BEAR birthday cards . . .

Birthdays come but once a year
The stomach turns and mind breeds fear
The door bell rings and in they come
Bearing shitty gifts and then some
So I draw a smile on my face
“Thanks a bunch, just what I hate”
Best get the cake, I’ve got my wish
For you to give next year a miss

The idea is, this cute but creepy skeletal bear encompasseses all that I and perhaps others cannot stomach – from condoms, birthdays, hippies, all the way to abstract expressionism (and by that I mean the majority of utter wank that you’ll find celebrated in the mainstreams of the modern art establishments) plus a bunch of others – check them out innit.  This current selection are available seperately or in bundles. I can also do small 5 x 7 inch original canvas versions to order, where you tell me exactly what you ‘Can’t Bear’ and I’ll put this into play with my brush. Email me for details or leave a comment here and we can chat innit, many thanks. xxx CroOK?

Amongst many other things, I’ve been shooting video footage like a demon over the past few months.  Much of it has lain gathering dust, due to the impossibility of trying to divide thirty-six hours of work amongst twenty-four every day.  (Sleep?  Pah!)  But then Fizzer Rippon got in touch about a podcast he’d put together from our recent Crooked Family night of Fight Folk in Medway and that was the kick up the arse I needed.

Fizzer and his colleague Grace Bell present a regular show on Radio Sunlight, a local community station in Gillingham.  They approached us at the Lounge on the Farm festival over the Summer, asking if the band could come into the studio for an interview and session.  Everyone was enthusiastic, but the logistics of work commitments, London residences and the price of train tickets were against it.  Bluntly, shit got difficult.

We invited Fizzer and Grace down to the Beacon Court to do an interview there.  I also suggested that, as we had such faith in the line-up we’d put on that night, they cover the whole evening and talk to the other bands too.  This they duly did.  In fact, the other bands made a better job of it than we did… circumstances on the night meant that our interview had to be postponed.  Crooked Family being Crooked, etc etc.

Fizzer’s podcast of the night’s interviews is online here.  And what a joy it is.  Dave, we think you’re a cunt too (but we’re glad it was a “proper gig”).  Tomb & co, we await your descent into My Drug Hell with eager interest.  Chris and your fellow Singing Loins… the only decent response is: Grand Godfathers.  We urge you all to listen to this podcast… such a beautiful record of a wonky night.  And the guy at the end…

So, here’s some video footage of the other bands that night.  I did also video Crook & Co, but not for very long.  My muse Stella was calling, there was dancing to be done… Mrs Lucy Langridge encouraged me into the mosh pit and there was pogo dancing of a kind probably most unseemly for a man of my advancing years.  And then afterwards the Fight Folk began in earnest… but that’s not a story we’ll be recounting here.

The Flowing - [title unknown]

The Sans Pareil – Shack Rave

The Singing Loins – Please Take My Scissors Away

The Crooked Family sends its love and respect to The Flowing, The Sans Pareil, The Singing Loins and all who attended.  This night was one of the highlights of our year.  Our first hunt completed, we’re blooded and eager to return to the chase.  We’re already debating venues & line-ups, mixing Crooked concoctions like mad professors crazed on moonshine.  Expect further “Crooked Family Presents…” evenings to come.

Your dysloyal servant… Hg xx

PS – if you want a downloadable MP3 of the podcast to listen to offline, right-click / ctrl-click here.

Some more reviews have been coming in for the new album.  As with the last batch, some clearly ‘get it’ in the same way we do, whereas others seem to find it all a bit too much to stomach, for which we can only be glad. Either way, thanks to those who have been taking the time to write us up, better deplored than ignored innit.  Here’s the latest round up . . . feel free to follow the links and leave some comments.  x CroOK

“Lupen Crook is a true original and an exceptional talent, a one off in the truest sense of the word… If you don’t find something to love in here, you are probably dead inside and don’t deserve your ears.”

“… a rabble pop both true and fresh.  From the renovating strata of Sleeping Lions to the spiralling joy of Dorothy Deserves, via the bliss of Pirate’s Wife, the artist masters his subject without ever domesticating it.“

“When at full pelt on a track such as Devil’s Son, Crook’s voice fits fine into a faux pas indie outfit, but when he’s doing his best Daniel Johnston impression he becomes intolerable, acting as a ‘voice of the people’ that no one really wants to hear.”

“It can be over-wrought and indulgent, and the Murderbirds often escape into very pedestrian rock. But then there are moments when you glimpse Lupen Crook’s talent; the bacchanalian folk-punk of ‘Pirate’s Wife’ and the delicate and melancholic folk melodies of ‘World’s End’, while ‘Devil’s Son’ is edgy and menacing until it’s bludgeoned to death beneath the rock.“

“…this is the kind of record that attempts to make grand statements on almost everything while concurrently managing to say almost nothing. The one redeeming feature is backing band The Murderbirds, whose performance is credibly passionate given the pretentious nonsense they are often supporting.“

“… some of the quieter moments are bearable.“

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“A truly memorable and gorgeously pure album that you should seriously think about cherishing, for it is a very lavish production indeed. And almost finally ‘Hour Glass’ cements the case that Mr Crook’s third album well and truly has the perfect shape.“

“… another example of Crook’s bewildering talent as a songwriter, as well as the close relationship he obviously has with his band, The Murderbirds, whose backing brings these songs to another level, giving them a real fullness and depth.“