The sudden omnipresence of Angine de Poitrine ought to be studied. Anonymous musicians in papier-mache helmets, polka dots and long noses are not usually allocated the same virality as [insert name of any pop superstar here], but following the Quebec duo’s KEXP performance, there are few chronic-onliners who don’t know the name.
Well, maybe oddballs in oddball costumes are going to turn a few heads, but microtonal math rock is usually reserved for the underground where the oddballs lurk. Liken the extravagant apparel as many heavyweights as you wish – KISS, Sam Smith, whomever – but remember how those artists found glory where glory was foreseen.
We’re back in an era where indie struggles, where Geese can’t prosper without bot-farming prosperity. Angine de Poitrine may not have anything at their audial disposal that even simulates pop appeal, but their value, and value of second album Vol. II, is evident, and it comes in the form of transcendence; exceeding all limits that should block the progress of one drummer and one dude playing a double-necked guitar, one neck bass, one neck treble.
That double-neck is part of the appeal. In a street performer sort of way, the guitar work of Fabienk would drop a few jaws regardless of what the guitarist is wearing. Sleek leads and pouncing bass grooves combine over the first three minutes, the accumulation combining with hard drums to give the piece a Primus spirit.
Obviously, the playing is strengthened – in studio form – by overdubs, but I’m still not sure where the duo pulls its polyrhythms from, or how it manages to perform songs so funkily or groovily without the extra pockets some may consider vital. Sarniezz has a really long groove metal-style riff.
The complexity – and how complexity is still able to exist no matter the direction the music takes – is certain to enthral those who adore prog wizardry. Even at the duo’s most laid-back, most exercise-y, Mata Zyklek boasts a zooming ‘math punk’ approach that mostly plays in 5/8 time. Sometimes, the time signatures feel as though they land outside the parameters of mathematics, the rhythmic equivalent of nontraditional guitar-tuning – see also, the 7/8 surf prog of Yor Zarad.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect attained from the duo’s ability to subvert is Utzp’s Anatolian / dark cabaret style, as minimalist as anything else, yet rich, full, and as lifelike as any other ‘rock goes cabaret’ number, regardless of how many guitars wish to overlap – credit those bobbing, weak beat guitar stabs.
While imagery isn’t all Angine de Poitrine has, it is the primary reason for the duo’s virality. But hey, this is an album review, so let’s focus on the ‘it isn’t all the duo has’ aspect. Angine de Poitrine has managed to achieve a greater maximalism from on-surface minimalism than the likes of Death From Above and Royal Blood. Angine might be the most interesting famous rock duo to achieve a sound mightier than the sum of its parts since White Stripes.
Best tracks – Fabienk – Mata Zyklek – Utzp.
Rating – 7.5 out of 10
