Hell O there. An quick update . . . for this week, like last, I am having to sacrifice the appeareance of crooked treasures at Camden Market in favour of creating the Dark Crafts that will be making their own appearence in these box sets . . . with love . . . Mr CroOK

Heading down to Devon for the Beautiful Days Festival 2010, there was an unspoken anxiety that each of us held silently inside, I could feel it in myself, and sense its presence in everyone else also. Latitude had been a riot of sundrenched pleasure and musical lunacy, and it would be interesting to see if it could be recreated again. 7am last Friday morning, the sky was colourless and empty and a brisk and lonely chill that threatened us with typical British rain, the kind that washes away any scent of enthusiasm – a weekend best spent under the covers watching piss poor action movies? Fuck no, not for us anyway . . .

5 Hours later and we’d made our peace with the weather, and so too accepted that Beautiful Days might well be a very different festival than Latitude. No matter, we had our medicines, we had our instruments, we had the constant aggregative nature of each other’s company, so we were ready. On arrival we witnessed two burly security man handle some poor teen, release him of his tickets, and drag him away to some place I hoped never to stumble upon. Then en route to our parking place we managed a wrong turn into a field lined with police riot vans and hungry looking uniforms – at which point Bruce turned white with fear, reversing the hell out of there, luckily unnoticed.

By 3pm we made temporary camp, and for the next few hours, like trolls lurking on the bridge, led campsite folk into the main festival arena with our stripped-down gypsy set. This began what would turn out to be a whole weekend of performing, and as wonky as it may have been, by 12.50 the following day our efforts on that bridge seemed well worth it.

The Big Top tent was gently buzzing with excitement and nerves, ours and theirs, for it was obvious that hangovers and comedowns were aplenty. Apart from a general consensus that I should never ever be allowed to speak to the general public between songs, the gig was a joy. We appreciate everyone who made the effort and took a chance on us bunch of misfits, you made our weekend. And for the record, what I actually said, trying to explain my obvious sweats and shakes, was “we got on some 4 year old Mandy last night” meaning MDMA, rather than “. . . 4 year Maddie” which is how some of the audience apparently took it. Hmmm, well, moving quickly on . . .

3pm we headed over to the Dirty Dave’s stage where I punk rocked a short set between main stage Q and A. Perhaps the most diverse and interesting stage, more arts than music. We later saw ‘The Agitator’ here, who is well worth checking out if you get the chance, and also ‘British Sea Power’ providing an instrumental noise sound-track to some strange Black and White film. All bloody good stuff. As the weekend drew over we witnessed our dear Hg go all twisty and momentarily turn into a crooked question mark, whilst Bruce did his best to lead us into bog and huge filthy hog infested swamplands. The rest is probably best left where it lies.

So, turns out that Beautiful Daze wasn’t one bit like Latitude, but without a doubt equally as brilliant. Many many thanks to all those we had the pleasure of meeting and getting messy with, t’was a dirty and delightful weekend, some great memories, and many lost on the hills of that place in Devon. Whoever you were, we hope you keep in touch.

Xxx Mr CroOK.

. . . goes to Camden market this Friday again, looking like a regular thing from now on. Look for the LUPEN CROOK sign swinging in the breeze, underneath find ‘weird man’ with a lack of loose change, trying to catch the eye of every passer by, head scratching, feet twiddling, coffee consuming, and then some selling if moods meet and the people agree.

Can’t Bear paintings, greeting cards, postcards, thee back catalogue, the new single and maybe this week some hand cut and fucked t-shirts (because the black ‘straight’ ones are annoying us). Also, two new charms are on sale, with a restock of the two other little treasures as well (see above, pictures by jenny hardcore). All this nonsense will be available in the website shop come next week, but its far nicer meeting in the real world, hand to hand, eye to eye, so come down and have a sneak peek. Mines a coffee with 2 sugars before 11am and any can of lager from then on in. Fair trade. Cheers weirdos . . . CroOK?

Click To See Full Image:

Liveblogging in effect… We’re in Camden on a sunny Friday afternoon.  Bruce & I have repaired to the Lockside Lounge for sustenance and wi-fi access while Mr Crook mans the first ever attempt at hawking our Crooked wares via market stall.

Releases, t-shirts and bags are available, but the main thrust is the (relatively) new Can’t Bear merchandise (postcards and greetings cards), which some of you have already seen at gigs.  We’ll be making them available via the website very shortly.

The band plays this Sunday at the Old Blue Last in Shoreditch.  Nearest tube station is Old Street (10 min walk), or you can use the new-fangled Overground line to Shoreditch High Street (5 min walk).

Supports come from Medway’s Archie Wah Wahs and Dalston’s The Sans Pareil (who those of you with long memories might remember supporting the band at 93 Feet East a couple of years ago).

The double ‘A’ side single World’s End / Devil’s Son – or Devil’s Son / World’s End, if you prefer – is out today via Label Fandango.  Videos for both songs can be found in the website sidebar and on the front page.  You can order the single from the Shop.

The single is released via Label Fandango, but we’re still basically self-funded.  Please buy direct from us, to help us build up band funds.  You get an exclusive lyric insert too.  Also, please spread the word however you can – word of mouth, Facebook, etc.

If you’re on Facebook, using the Share button next to the two videos is a good way to let your friends and contacts see and hear what the band is all about.  You can also follow us on Twitter and re-tweet our updates to your own followers.

We know 7″ vinyl is something of a niche market these days, so we’ve got a limited number of 7″s available with a bundled copy of the CD promo.  We’re not sure how long stocks will last, so order sooner rather than later to secure your copy of the CD.

Also, don’t forget that the website shop contains numerous other treasures, including t-shirts, canvas bags and back catalogue releases.  All of this merchandise is available from us at forthcoming gigs and festivals too, if you prefer the personal touch.

We’re playing at the Scala in London on Thursday evening and we’re going to be at the Latitude festival for most of the weekend.  If you can make either of these, we look forward to seeing you.  x

We were pleased to hear earlier this week that the BBC Trust has rejected the BBC’s plans to close its 6 Music radio station.  This follows a four-month campaign to save the station, endorsed by numerous high-profile musicians and massive public support.

We’re particularly relieved on Tom Robinson’s behalf, because apparently he’s going to be playing one of the new double A side single tracks on his show this evening between 7pm and 9pm.  Nice to know you won’t be collecting your P45 any time soon, Tom.

Last time round, Mr Robinson good-naturedly suggested that “Lupen Crook HQ” might be orchestrating the positive feedback that he was receiving.  So, for the record, any texts or e-mails that you choose to send him tonight are entirely at your discretion!  x

PS – keep your eyes peeled for another blog post later today.  We’ve got something to show you…

Thanks to everyone who came and showed their support at the Bull and Gate on Monday.  We appreciate that it was a shorter set than you might have expected.  Bob wasn’t well enough to play, so Mr Crook and Tom planned a duo set.  Last-second technical problems on stage forced it to become a solo performance, meaning that several songs had to be sacrificed.  Hopefully you enjoyed what you heard, including two brand new numbers.  Titles are still in flux, but you’ll be hearing them again.

The song in the video above is Coldalone, which has been around for a couple of years but has yet to be recorded.  Speaking of recordings, the World’s End / Devil’s Son single is out on Monday!  We’re putting the finishing touches to the Devil’s Son video right now.  We’re a little behind on getting the single available in the website shop.  News to follow imminently.  Be aware that the 7″ colour lyric insert will only be available in copies bought direct from us.  If you buy elsewhere, it’s just a black sleeve plus the vinyl.

We’re looking forward to Lounge On The Farm this weekend.  Many of Medway’s finest will be there: Slap Alice, Archie Wah Wahs, The Singing Loins, Stuart Turner and The Lovedays, to name but a few.  The band is on around 4pm on Sunday.  We’re also getting very excited about Latitude the following weekend.  Too many brilliant musicians to even begin to put together a list of recommendations; if you’re going to be there too, leave us a comment and let us know who you think we should check out.

A quick note to the noteworthy to inform the display of a certain tarred and feathered shot at SW1 Gallery this week (see gallery section on this website’s home page if in the dark).

It had been planned to display the feathered 3 amidst a recent shoot from an asylum.  However, time and space caught up with us and sadly the selection was abandoned – if this is of any interest to you click here to see more images (new website still under construction, so yet another Facebook link i’m afraid)

Many thanks to the Crooked Family and beyond for love and inspiration, watch this space for the dancing wooden man x

Exhibition details:

SW1 Gallery
12 Cardinal Walk
Roof Garden Level
Cardinal Place (off Victoria St)
SW1E 6JE

Private view: 6pm-8pm wed 30th june
Free entry: 12pm-5pm thurs 1st-sat 3rd july

How do we follow the sad news in the previous post?  It hasn’t been our most pressing concern, but it has crossed our mind.   This wasn’t the plan…  However, time marches onwards and needs must when the devil’s son drives into town.

The band is playing a gig at the Bull & Gate in Kentish Town (London), next Monday evening, July 5th.  Stage time is 9:15pm and there’s a free guestlist.  All we need is your names in the comments for this post by midday on the day itself.

In other news, we filmed a video for forthcoming single Devil’s Son on Saturday.  The picture above shows a tired and achy band relaxing for five minutes in the late afternoon sun, before diving back into the hottest venue in the world for a final take.