biographical info
"...as epic as it is primal and as stirring as it is sad and introverted".
[National Post]
"A triumphant debut."
[FFWD Magazine]
"Patient and profound."
[Montreal Hour]
"...set to become one of Canada's most intriguing and complex acts."
[Indie London]
Les
Jupes are a new band from the centre of Canada versed in expansive musical
landscapes, sharp lyrics and an observer’s eye for the world. They are four Anglos with a French name
making big, broad and determined music. And
they are at the centre of a prairie renaissance growing around Head In The Sand
Records.
Their
debut album Modern Myths is built on
Michael Petkau Falk’s baritone charging through waves of psychedelia and
driving rhythms. Pounding, introspective, at times fierce, at times playful. It
is purposefully dyslexic - an echo of the characters entombed and a mirror of
the writer. Having moved to Montreal
and quitting music in 2005, this album culminates the creative turnaround of
“the patron saint of the Winnipeg music scene” (Jaxon Haldane) - a process
which also brought us the Record Of The Week Club in 2009.
Modern Myths was recorded over
a year and a half when Montreal producer/engineer Marcus Paquin (frontman of
Last Gang's Silver Starling) found time from working on Arcade Fire's The Suburbs. Marcus and Mike have that rare magic found in
friends who share similar musical visions.
The
process of recording Modern Myths
also brought turnover - one version of Les Jupes slowly dissipated and another
has come to take its place. David
Schellenberg (The Playing Cards), Kelly Beaton (All Of Your Friends) and Adam Klassen have
brought new passion and skill to this song cycle and anticipation for next wave
of songs. What began as a band quickly
formed around a one-off gig has grown into a powerful live act excited to
continue connecting with audiences across Canada and around the world.
And
what of the songs? There is one for
Nikita Khruschev, Stalin’s Ukranian heir and cold-war architect. There is one
for someone wrestling with depression and an eating disorder. There is one for Chicago. There is (ironically enough) one for people
who take things too seriously. There is
Awake, My Ghost! written the day before a kind man and passionate music-lover
took his own life. And there is One
Solemn Oath, the album’s thematic centre.
Lead singer Michael Petkau Falk has produced Record Of The Week Club, The Liptonians,
lineup
Mike Petkau Guitar + Voice
David Schellenberg Bass
Kelly Beaton Keyboards + Voice
Adam Klassen Drums
influences
Elvis Costello
Television
Slowdive
R.E.M.
Yo La Tengo
Nick Cave
Blonde Redhead