by LORRAINE CARPENTER

If Lovely Feathers were a foetus, it wouldn't even be born yet, but this local band has come a long way since its January conception. Before winning IROCmusic's and le Swimming's second annual Indie Rock Contest last week, they scored a Battle of the Bands gig at Café Campus on the strength of their very first show, and won. That initial victory encouraged some serious elbow grease on the part of singer-guitarists Mark Kupfert and Richard Yanofsky, bassist Noah Bernamoff, drummer Ted Suss and absentee keyboardist Daniel Suss, who's wrapping up his studies in Singapore in time for a Pop Montreal gig.

For now, the "eccentric alt-pop" act is launching its debut album, a 13-step program of manic power pop, murky indie rock and graceful instrumentals called My Best Friend Daniel - the title is their way of saying they miss their piano-playing buddy.

"It's weird, it's strange," says Kupfert, flattered by the band's victories and flabbergasted by the sight of 1,000 Lovely Feathers discs, hot off the presses. "We just couldn't decide what songs we wanted for our demo so we kept recording and suddenly we had 13 tracks."

Though the record captures all of the band's songs to date, Kupfert acknowledges that it's slightly slacker than their high-energy show. Kupfert, in particular, was practically frothing during their Swimming set, and there's a lot more where that came from.

"I'm an anxious person," he admits. "I fell in love with playing guitar because it's therapeutic. It keeps me stable, so I can't stop now."

Kupfert actually started out as a drummer, and it took a harsh dose of rejection while studying in New York City, along with a growing obsession with melody, to drive him to the guitar.

"When I'd go to shows, I'd always be inspired but also extremely jealous because no one wanted to play with me." Undaunted, he schooled himself in the ways of the six-string and eventually fell in with his friends and future bandmates back in Montreal. "To make rock music, you only need your 16 chords, and as long as you're creative and you have other good musicians around you, there's no limit."

CD launch at Petit Campus on Monday, Sept. 6, 8:30 p.m., $5

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