The band plays Ottawa Bluesfest on July 17 and the Hillside Festival in Guelph, Ont., two days later.Atsuko Kobasigawa/Exclaim.ca
There’s not so much a buzz around the Quebec math-rock duo Angine de Poitrine as there is a full-on craze. Before their first-ever Toronto headlining appearance on Tuesday night at the 600-capacity Mod Club, they snuck in a set opening for Detroit rocker Jack White an Uber-ride away at the RBC Amphitheatre.
One for the money, two for the show.
Why is Angine de Poitrine, Quebec’s masked, math-rock band, blowing up?
And it was some show. They took to the Mod Club stage wearing, as is their custom, co-ordinated black-and-white polka-dotted costumes, complete with masks and towering hats. When it comes to elaborate headgear, the Catholic Church has nothing on Angine de Poitrine. The protruding nose of guitarist Khn de Poitrine (a pseudonym) looks like a party favour that won’t stop partying.
The two Saguenay musicians − one plays drums, the other uses a double-neck microtonal guitar/bass and a looping pedal − face each other on the stage. The arrangement is a telling detail: They’re committed to unconvention.
The Quebec band’s music is built to be heard live, with audiences excited by the newness and committed to the ritual.Atsuko Kobasigawa/Exclaim.ca
The typical music piece starts off with a pounding drum beat from Klek de Poitrine (also a pseudonym) and a guitar riff on a repeated loop. Using a custom-made instrument modified with extra frets, the guitarist surfs the polyrhythms using atypical scales that produce notes the ordinary ear does not anticipate.
The sound is alien − all of it is alien. Between “songs” they “talk” in indecipherable grunts. It is as if these self-described space-time voyagers descended to Earth, heard about the legend of Frank Zappa and started recording albums and hitting stages. The debut Vol. 1 didn’t make a huge splash in 2024, but this year’s Vol. II was just shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize.
Their music is built to be heard live, with an audience excited by the newness and committed to the ritual − a fascination with pyramids is represented by triangle hand signals that both the musicians and the fans hold high. There was moshing.
It’s fresh, it’s intense, it’s liberation from the norm.
Attempting to describe the music has become a parlour game of sorts. I’ll give it a go. Angine de Poitrine are: the thinking nerd’s Rush; disco for robots; Met Gala math rock; algorithm cleansers; hipster conversation-starters; jazz from planet Remulak; Adrian Belew’s outtakes; microtonal guitar for tourists; danceable Cubism; unknowable people making unhummable music; less Kraut, more rock; pyramid power for those unaware of Red Kelly; and the best thing to happen to polka dots since Julia Roberts wore them in Pretty Woman.
The arrangement is a telling detail: They’re committed to unconvention.Atsuko Kobasigawa/Exclaim.ca
Kiel Schweizer teaches guitar to high school students in Anchorage, Alaska. He travelled to Toronto with his wife to see Angine de Poitrine. Like many of those in the crowd, he was dressed all in dots. Also, like many there, he’s a diehard.
“I haven’t been this excited about a new band since I was in high school,” said Schweizer, who looked to be in his 50s, before the concert. “They draw on influences, but what they’re doing is original.”
What Angine de Poitrine are doing is invading the zeitgeist and captivating a country and beyond. Big crowds have flocked to the leading festivals and venues to catch the summer’s “It” band: Phillips Backyard Music Festival in Victoria, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Montreal International Jazz Festival, Base31 in Picton, Ont.
Between 'songs' the duo 'talk' in indecipherable grunts.Atsuko Kobasigawa/Exclaim.ca
The duo plays Ottawa Bluesfest on July 17 and the Hillside Festival in Guelph, Ont., two days later. Organizers for both events recently moved Angine de Poitrine to bigger stages to accommodate the enthrallment.
Will the mysterious Quebeckers be unmasked as a gimmick, or will they be accepted as insurgents in the avant-garde? The best artists who initially presented themselves in persona form − Orville Peck, Daft Punk, Kiss, Gorillaz and Jack White’s White Stripes come to mind − survived because of music, not schtick.
“I believe in my mask, the man I made up is me,” Sam Shepard wrote in his 1972 musical play The Tooth of Crime. “I believe in my dance, and my destiny.” People will buy what Angine de Poitrine is selling as long as they present it sincerely. To some, it is unintelligible; to the believers, the unusual duo is speaking their language.
Angine de Poitrine plays the Mod Club again on Wednesday and Saturday.