HOLLY CULP
Arts Editor

With a sound that has been described as “magically moody” by a much more reputable publication than this, Winnipeg’s latest export Les Jupes are on their way to success with their debut album Modern Myths.

The band is fronted by the sonorous stylings of Michael Petkau Falk, instantly reeling you in with the album’s opening track “Myth #3 (The Mountain).” After that you are rendered completely defenseless.

The album is a brief, beautiful 10 tracks long. Produced and engineered by Marcus Paquin of Montreal’s Silver Starling (who also engineered Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs), the album took somewhere around a year and a half to complete and saw the band go through a number of members.

“It was a long time coming,” said bassist David Schellenberg. “It’s been a whole thing. We’ve gone through like seven, maybe nine different people, all playing in this band at some point. Now there’s just four.”

“Just four” seems to be the perfect formula for the band’s upcoming tour, which includes a stop in Saskatoon and all the way down to SXSW in Texas.

“I love the road,” said Schellenberg. “All four of us are excited. Half the band is married but they can’t wait to, like, leave their wives behind and get on the road.

“It’s just a break from everything; it’s doing everything that you love to do. You get to travel and you get to play music and you get to meet new people. You get to have a new experience everyday.”

Winnipeg’s rich music scene has been emerging quickly, quietly brewing behind the scenes during the years that Winnipeg was synonymous with the Weakerthans, waiting to be released. It’s gaining momentum fast. I may move there.

None of the members of Les Jupes are strangers to touring, all involved in multiple musical projects throughout Winnipeg before finding each other in Les Jupes.

“We’ve all had various tours and other bands under our belts and other records,” said Schellenberg. “It’s always nice to tour with people who have done it before. Tours aren’t always easy or fun so it’s nice to find people who are gung-ho for it.”

“With this band everyone’s equally on board,” said Schellenberg. “It’s actually unbelievable. For how old I am, I’ve played in a solid six serious bands and no one’s ever been so ready to take that big step. Me and Kelly— our keyboard player — both just dropped out of University for this tour and the upcoming tour in March. Everyone’s really devoted and that’s kind of rare.”

If you’re wondering just how old Schellenberg is, he’s 19. I know, I felt like an inadequate failure too.

Les Jupes play Caffe Sola on Feb. 4 with Dreaming of Electric Sheep