Angine de Poitrine have become nothing short of a phenomenon with the likes of Rick Beato and Charles Cornell’s YouTube channels getting swamped with requests to breakdown what they do. The duo play microtonal music on a guitar/bass double neck and drums. Their official bio says they are “disciples of planet Earth’s rock deities, space-time voyagers Klek and Khn de Poitrine gaze in wonder at hot dogs, pyramids, and rock music in all its glorious excess.” Their new album is their second album and it’s called Vol.II.
If you’re not familiar with microtonality then these are musical intervals smaller than a semitone, often described as the notes that fall “between the keys” on a piano. Pick any song on Vol.II and, from the first bars, you are sucked into their world; abducted by aliens as it were. The dizzying array of notes and beats are sometimes in lockstep and sometimes swarm around each other. The rhythm is drum machine precise but still has the swing of a human being (if that’s not too insulting to them). If you are fan of fellow extra-terrestrial travellers Henge, or feet-on-earth-head-in-the-stars, Gong, or love Saz-heavy bands such as Buzz Ayaz or Baba Zula, you will recognise the cornucopia of notes that Angine de Poitrine bend, loop, and harmonise. They make staccato sexy.
Their super-fast playing is often up around 200 bpm and deployed with a telepathic precision that must come from years practicing in deep space instead of going into hyper sleep. But precision doesn’t mean clinical. There is humour and groove in their tracks, and you might hear the blues warp passed or, as on ‘UTZP’, you get the sound of a crazy sped-up circus that changes halfway to retool as a rocked out set of riffs that could have come from Deep Purple.
The combination of style and substance hits a sweet spot with Angine de Poitrine. Their technical proficiency is awash with humour and mesmerising tunes that quicken the pulse and a promote a euphoric sense of happiness. However, a warning to guitar players, next time you pick up your guitar you might find there are no notes left as Angine de Poitrine have used them all up.
Angine de Poitrine: Website | Bandcamp | Instagram | YouTube
The bands’ May shows are already sold out (apart from The Great Escape) but they return to Earth’s UK and Ireland regions in September and October so if you want to catch this phenomenon of image and sound then book early (dates below). To get an idea of what you can expect, the link below is the KEXP performance that now has over 7 million views.
SEPTEMBER
4 – Larmer Tree Gardens, Dorset – End Of The Road
5 – Manchester, UK – Manchester Psych Fest
6 – Edinburgh, UK – Edinburgh Psych Fest
OCTOBER
13 – Bristol, UK – Prospect Building
14 – Glasgow, UK – SWG3 Galvanizers
16 – Dublin, IRE – Opium
18 – Leeds, UK – Project House
19 – London, UK – Troxy
Review by Paul F Cook
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