Awkward because he’s a one-man genre that transmogrifies track by track or even within each song. Our street-anti-folk poet hero from Kent has really moved on since we first fell upon him under canvas in Camden Town.

The singer songwriter acoustic guitar of ‘Billy’s Gang’ has been left far behind (hopefully, not forever) as have the other previous releases, the EP ‘Petals Fresh From Road Kill’ and ‘Halloween’.

Lupen is so awkward you can’t help but worry for his mental stability. Syd Barrett springs to mind. You just don’t know what to expect as any one track can flip in and or out of acoustic folk, psych, prog, indie, and parlour string quartets in a violent demonic surrealist opera.

Whether it is his shear bloody mindedness that gets to you or it’s that your ears just end up beaten and bruised in submission, the last few tracks are particularly impressive. ‘Indigenous Syringes And A Silver Boot…For Sam’ is a jolly folk rockin’ Faces tinged cockles and whelk stall violin/mandolin jolly, ‘Soviet Bones’ is a gentle acoustic with a bit of brass band and ‘Black Candles’ is the climatic 3 minute opus complete with John Lennon impersonation.

Awkward? For an insight into the visual expression of Crook see the ‘Gallery’ section of his website (see links below). He’s done the cover artwork for the album as a ripped and slashed jigsaw collage of Lupen ‘Ziggy’ Crook.

So he’s got a touch of the good Captain Beefheart on the artistic front and also on the song titles such as the opener ‘6=8…The Remainder Of A Formula Self’. And with ‘Here 2 B Friends’, it’s like Lupen is setting you a test. It’s not that he hates you, but he doesn’t love you. If you get past these two, you’ve got 13 more gems to ‘endure’.

Oh yes, he’s awkward. ‘Love 80’ and the popular ‘Matilda V’ have been previously released. ‘Matilda V’ is a huge remake with harmonica, strings and tubular bells! It’s a stand out track but there’s no particularly obvious other hit. Having said that, either ‘The Great Fear’, ‘The Dead Relative’ or ‘Better Left For The Poorer Right’ could take off in a Cockney Rebel ‘Mr. Soft’ type of way. Certainly enough here for a great live show in a Lupen Crook ‘The Concept’ type way.

What an awkward sod. Who else would use string arrangements with Kazoos (‘Wendy’s House’) or call a song ‘The Spastic Society’? Clearly he’s not desperate for radio plays. Apart from the rude words, there’s some dark, perverted imaginary that is too honest. He can make you feel uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable at times. Is Lupen struggling with life? It’s hard to tell but he’s got ambitions for his arrangements that are to be admired, if not worshipped.

Steady on now. NME put his ‘Lucky 6’ at 49 in the 2005 the tracks of the year. According to Lupen, the attention that brought “wrecked” his life for 3 weeks. I’m afraid his life is going to be wrecked for sometime to come as the spotlight will eventually turn on him and burn into his soul. Don’t wait to see that or to come across Lupen on some future compilation like Rough Trade Shops - Singer Songwriter 23. This is definitely a brilliant album that you must have. Light the candles if you dare.

Reviewed:
Lupen Crook - Accidents Occur Whilst Sleeping (Tap’n’Tin) Cat. No: tapntin 008-CD Release date: May 2006
Tracklisting:
1 - 6-8…The Remainder Of A Formula Self (1:50)
2 - Here 2 B Friends (3:27)
3 - Love 80 (2:50)
4 - The Great Fear (2:06)
5 - The Dead Relative (2:45)
6 - Wendy’s House (2:27)
7 - Daughters Day (2:37)
8 - Knives ‘N’ Pliers (2:59)
9 - Better Left Dor The Poorer Right (3:21)
10 - Matilda V (2:42)
11 - The Spastic Society (2:00)
12 - Shark Fight (2:35)
13 - Indigenous Syringes And A Silver Boot…For Sam (3:44)
14 - Soviet Bones (3:43)
15 - Black Candles (3:12)

Links:
www.myspace.com/lupencrook
http://www.lupencrook.co.uk/gallery/index.asp
www.tapntinrecords.co.uk