Angine de la Scene
by jj skolnik
If you aren’t familiar with the Quebec band Angine de Poitrine (“angine de poitrine” = “angina pectoris,” chest pain caused by lack of blood flow to the heart), they’re a duo who wear oversized costumes with long-nosed papier-mâché (??) heads onstage. They’re covered in polka dots, right down to their bare polka-dot-painted feet, in the case of guitarist Khn de Poitrine. They make proggy math-rock, and have described themselves as a “mantra-rock dada Pythagorean-cubist orchestra.”
To me they’re reminiscent of the Rhode Island School of Design-centric scene of the aughts that produced Lightning Bolt, mixed with Primus and Frank Zappa. There’s also something that feels French-Canadian there that I can’t put my finger on because I’m American and have spent a grand total of maybe a week in Montreal total over my lifetime. Erin McLeod at touchofallright has more to say about the Quebecois context, placing their sound into the context of what she calls “cirque rock.”
I first noticed my online cohort discussing AdP a few months ago, when their KEXP session went viral just before the release of their second LP. At that point I filed Angine de Poitrine into the “not for me” category and went on my merry way.
Keep us breathing fire!
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