Lupen Crook and the Murderbirds - Iscariot The Ladder

Iscariot the Ladder is the second long-playing effort from Englishman Lupen Crook after 2006's critically acclaimed debut, Accidents Occur Whilst Sleeping. It finds our protagonist dodging pigeonholes left, right and centre as each song seems to contain an album worth of twists and turns, with vocals floating from the delicate and fragile to thrash metal abrasive. Opener Cackle and the Crown encapsulates this recurring, seemingly haphazard ethos as a gentle, almost Simon and Garfunkel-esque intro gives way to power chord action in a heavy rock shift. Mirroring the constant alternating of styles, the tunes themselves vary from very good to quite ridiculous (Matthew's Magpie would slot into a Tenacious D set with ease). Iscariot's erratic musical range tends to stay on the right side of enjoyable for the most part, and with lyrics like "I shit you not Britain, you get what you deserve", further investigation is doubly merited. [Jon Seller]