Repetition, uneven metres, microtonal scales – these are probably the essential musical characteristics of the Canadian duo Angine de Poitrine, who also perform in droll costumes.
It sounds rather strenuous, but only on proverbial paper. »Sherpa«, the first track from their 2024 debut album Vol. 1, now being reissued, slowly builds an ecstatic chunk around a simple guitar lick, one that may remind older listeners of so-called math-rock bands of the 2000s and after: Battles, Hella, Don Caballero and, of course, their precursors such as Frank Zappa and King Crimson. They, however, showed considerably less uninhibited joy in playing, less interest in translating crooked metres into straightforward pleasure in hip-swinging. The handling of the relatively unfamiliar scales, too – which, as in Turkish and Arabic music, include tones between the semitones – has rarely sounded so natural in a rock context. Which is wonderful, even if it may also be a blessing of late birth. Tracks such as »Ababa Hotel« and »Sahardnieh« suggest how the concept might be carried further in different directions. Almost certainly the year’s most unusual party record.
Vol. 1
