Unless you’ve been living under a rock since the beginning of February you’ve surely seen the monochromatic alien duo known as Angine De Poitrine and their viral KEXP live session. It’s easy to see why they’ve caught the internet’s eye, playing their King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard, Frank Zappa and Primus inspired math rock on a custom double-neck guitar/bass hybrid with paper mache noses flopping around. Even muted they’re a spectacle to behold. Now on their first post-fame album Vol. II the mostly instrumental two-piece aim to show the world that their distinctive aesthetic is only a small part of their bizarre world.
From the first disorienting notes of intro track ‘Fabienk’ it should be clear whether Angine De Poitrine are your kind of nonsense, If not stop here, go chuck on a Foo Fighters album because they’re not getting any more palatable. While ‘Fabienk’ immediately has a strange, stumbling rhythm and bizarre note choices the track steadily finds a uniquely danceable groove, not one that’ll be filling nightclubs anytime soon but funky and catchy all the same. Aside from the band’s eye-catching aesthetics this offbeat, microtonal funk may be why Angine De Poitrine have grabbed the attention of so many, it’s unusual and wonderful but it’ll still have you shaking your hips.
“It’s unusual and wonderful but it’ll still have you shaking your hips.”
While the initial shock is bound to have some listeners gawking at Angine De Poitrine, under the surface lies a clear love for experimental music and an unmatched commitment to the bit. Whether it’s the Battles style buildup and breakdown on ‘Mata Zyklek’, the noisy Psychedelic Porn Crumpets riffing on ‘Yor Zarad’ or the Zappa-esque tongue-in-cheek jazz rock of ‘UTZP’, Angine De Poitrine have been listening intently to the weirder corners of human music for a very long time. Strip away the wacky costumes and online hype and Vol. II is still a dense, captivating record full of adoration for the most niche outer rims of the rock music galaxy.
On the other hand, the six tracks of Vol. II don’t veer too far from Angine De Poitrine’s set formula, building up around a live-looped groove with just enough variation to keep each song from becoming repetitive. Album closer ‘Angor’ is a perfect encapsulation of everything Angine De Poitrine do, steadily building up steam across the track’s six minute runtime, adding layers of clashing guitars and drums to a locked-in bass line, focusing on creating interesting textures rather than reinventing the wheel every few measures. With a relatively short album like Vol. II these catchy, memorable grooves stay fresh and memorable, cutting off before they outstay their welcome.
With the internet already in a chokehold there’s relatively few surprises on Angine De Poitrine’s first album after being thrust into the spotlight, instead the duo focus on creating bizarre yet playful beats to get lost in. With plenty of homages to their eclectic inspirations Angine De Poitrine plant their flag in the experimental music world, free of any reputation as a flash in the pan meme band.