Seattle-based darkwave outfit Jupe Jupe channel dark, hook-filled post-punk into something both urgent and deeply atmospheric, blending driving rhythms, moody guitars, mournful sax, and synth lines built for late nights and crowded dance floors. Frequently compared to The Cure, Depeche Mode, Psychedelic Furs, and Nation of Language, the band has earned praise from outlets like KEXP, The Big Takeover, and AllMusic for their dramatic vocals, infectious choruses, and fluid, dance-rock grooves. On February 27, 2026, Jupe Jupe release their new album King of Sorrows on No-Count Records, an eight-song set that sharpens their neo-noir sound into its darkest and most direct form yet, following recent singles “Haunting,” “Kill Your Darlings,” and the new track “A Game of Wait and See.” Anchored by a rich baritone voice and a sound that merges vintage synth textures with cutting guitars and heavy low end, Jupe Jupe’s music grapples with uncertainty, ego, and the shadowy corners of the self—music for moving bodies and restless minds alike.
How did the band form and what does the band name mean?
MY: Thanks so much for talking with us! Bryan and I began writing music together in the Austin, Texas-based space-rock/prog band, Maximum Coherence During Flying. Shortly after moving to Seattle, we met Patrick and formed the Seattle synthpop band, Pleasurecraft, along with Kirk Bentley. After Pleasurecraft dissolved, Bryan and I formed Jupe Jupe and recorded our first record, Invaders. Before Invaders was released, we recruited Patrick and Jarrod, who had previously been members of the Seattle indie-pop group, the Cinematics.
Although Jupe Jupe has different meanings in various languages (“skirt skirt” in French, “kiss kiss” in Thai), we actually got the name from our mutual friend, Jeff, who refers to the “HiQ” drum sound on analog drum machines as “jupe jupes.” These high-resonance/fast-attack percussion sounds are commonly used by Kraftwerk, Front 242, and tons of electro artists.
What are your previous musical projects? How'd you first get into music?
Pleasurecraft (Seattle), The Cinematics (Seattle), Maximum Coherence During Flying (Austin/Seattle)
MY: I started writing music while in middle-school in a Denver, CO / Norman, OK punk band called “The Bloody Ear Muffs”. My first synth was a Casio CZ-5000. I continued playing with the B.E.M. members (under different band names) until we formed Maximum Coherence During Flying in Austin, with Bryan.
Bryan: My high school band was called Behave. We played a couple school dances and events. But in Princeton WV if you wanted to play a big show you had to rent out the ballroom of a Chinese restaurant called King’s Palace. We did that and it was intoxicating to the point that I’m still doing this.
What is the first concert that you ever went to?
MY: First concert was Depeche Mode’s Black Celebration tour at Red Rocks, Colorado. I was only 12 years old. The entire production felt as though the band had just landed on Earth from another planet.
Bryan: The first concert I remember was the Charleston Symphony playing at Concord College. And for clarity that’s Charleston, West Virginia, not South Carolina.
What's your writing process like?
Bryan: For us, writing music is a balance between a process of transmutation and construction. Like the metaphor of the alchemist. An idea comes in, energy comes in, emotion, information, experiences, all these things swirl around and as you allow yourself to hold them you start to shape them in the ways that seem nearest right for those things. Sometimes these initial ideas are just sounds, or textual ideas. Other times the initial ideas come in as a vague desire to hear something you can’t quite put a finger on. You don’t own these ideas, it’s more shepherding. Over time these things grow and can be constructed into melodies, sounds, words, which become songs, and with dedication and patience, the songs may become records.
What other artists or songs inspire your music?
For the Jupe Jupe X Blood Makes Noise playlist we made on Spotify we included a handful of artists and songs that were inspiring for our new record, King of Sorrows. Here is the track order and little about what these songs mean to us.
Lalo Schiffrin - Danube Incident
Portishead - Sour Times
Enoch Light - Temptation
Amon Tobin - Nightlife
For us, these first four songs tell a story of craft and the expansion of single notes to collections of notes being used to build a song. The Lalo Schiffrin tune was cut and pitched to become a textural foundation for the Portishead song Sour Times. The same for the Enoch Light tune Temptation and Amon Tobin’s Nightlife. These are older songs we went back to and they play a significant role in our thinking about song craft. We don’t build songs the way Sour Times or Nightlife are built so it was great to spend some time rethinking texture and space as we were building King of Sorrows.
Bragolin - Into Those Woods - This is just a really exciting tune.
The Cure - The Exploding Boy - The way the bass and saxophone start this song are probably the way Jupe Jupe Bryan would like to start all of our songs.
Sisters of Mercy - Lucretia My Reflection
Ministry - Effigy (I’m Not An)
Caskett Cassette - Into the Sun
These three songs are a model of dark efficiency. The tightness and compact nature of these songs makes them feel bound in a way that was inspiring to us on King of Sorrows because in the past we’ve not put that as a parameter in our writing as much.
Fat Dog - King of the Slugs - Just a really excitingly strange song, and again, bass and saxophone happening in this band.
What's the live experience like and your philosophy on playing live? Do you think the music live should be identical to the recorded version or should it be its own thing?
MY: Depends on the show. Typically our songs are quite similar to the recordings, but we have done stripped-down performances with more acoustic instrumentation in record stores and smaller venues.
Bryan: I like the energy and experience of being at live shows. I like when musicians provide an audience with a variety of musical experiences during a show. I like some of the songs to be just like the recordings and I like some of the songs to diverge from the original. I like when musicians throw in covers of songs they like, and I like when musicians seem to be enjoying what they are doing. I’m not a fan of talking on stage beyond a simple connection here and there.
Have you toured? What has the touring experience been, best shows? Worst shows?
MY: We often play all over the Pacific Northwest, and have done a few spot shows in New York City and Austin, Texas. We really do love traveling, and we’re planning on touring more after King of Sorrows is released.
Bryan: There is a fantastic club in Richland, WA called Ray’s Golden Lion. That place is wonderful because it’s always all-ages and all-ages come out to dance and party. That’s a very special place for good shows. Another special mention is the now closed Last Resort, Lerona, WV.
What's up next for the band?
MY: Record release in late February, then tour wherever we can!