“You're losing weight in all the wrong places/You know you're being fucked but you can't see their faces.”
Lucky Six
We all have a dark side, don't we? The occasional thought that you shouldn't have, something so grim that you admonish it straight away and move on with your normal, functional life. If the dark side ever needed a soundtrack, then it need look no further than to Lupen Crook and The Murderbirds.
Lupen Crook exists in a world of druzillian whores, wicked urges and the need to say those things that your school welfare officer would call 'inappropriate.'
The tone of the evening is set early on with “Dick Strange and the Nasty Boys” (cancer, AIDS and toilet abortions are chimed about in quick succession) and “Here 2 B Friends,” a lament from the depths of the middle of the night, “ain't had sex in weeks/I've been thinking about taking you in your sleep.” On paper, that sounds quite grim, but both on record and live, it's something all together more fragile. It's almost sweet. Lupen himself, between songs, appears polite and appreciative; a huge contrast the the demons within that force their way out during every number.
Showcasing new songs from their forthcoming second album, it would suggest that their sound is moving away from truly twisted Disney, and heading towards bitter lounge-jazz in places. It's a seamless progression, and the set works as a whole, old and new hinting towards a bright and hopefully lengthy future. The second album is due out in January, and will hopefully mark the beginning of a year where people will sit up, take notice, and disapprove with a cheeky grin.
The highlight of the night is the hit single that never was “The Great Fear.” A jaunty tale of a checkered childhood, that could lend itself to something bigger. The characters in these songs are somehow well-rounded, in spite of their often terrible thoughts and deeds. The recurring imagery of magpies, whores, hell, cats and deviancy suggest that a story is gradually unravelling, bit by bit. It's the aural equivalent of Nighty Night; relentlessly gratuitous but completely appealing.
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Live, the pretentiousness of the recordings is stripped away, and what you have is a talented singer songwriter hollering his heart out, experimental Murderbirds (one new song is accompanied by a percussion of pots and pans, that really shouldn't work, but should). The contrasts are exciting; one minute it's classic crooning, followed by anguished cries, complemented by rather beautiful love-notes, suddenly morphing into true anger. One minute Lupen is literally spitting anger out in the crowd (especially in the bilious set closer 'Knives'n'Pliars'), the next he is looking you firmly in the eye and quite charmingly outlining his most disgraceful desires.
It's bold, it's often theatrical, and it makes you feel like taking a shower so you feel less dirty. It appeals to every wicked bone in your body. Quite simply amazing. Being violated has never sounded so good.
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