Vol. II

Angine de Poitrine — 2026

“Microtonal madness in constant motion which is strange, relentless, and impossible to ignore.”

Get ready for the surprise record of the year. Angine de Poitrine are a masked duo from Saguenay, Quebec who go by the names Khn and Klek de Poitrine. That’s about all anyone knows for certain. The band is an anonymous artistic project, and they show up to perform wearing papier-mâché hats, speaking a language only they understand, dressed in polka dots. They call themselves a “Mantra-Rock Dada Pythagorean-Cubist Orchestra.” I know this has already lost some readers but just go with it. If you know, then you know! This is their second record, following their 2024 debut, and it pushes everything further out into the strange microtonal jam spaces they thrive in. This time, they come with a bigger audience in tow, one that seems to invent endless herky jerky dance moves just to keep up with the momentum of Vol. II.

I don’t really know to completely explain everything that goes on here but the tracks sit at the crossroads of acid techno, disco, psych and rock. But the defining ingredient is microtonality. Khn plays a double neck guitar tuned to notes that fall in the cracks between standard Western tuning, which gives everything that slightly off, buzzing, alien quality. Klek handles percussion and keeps the whole thing moving with locked-in grooves that somehow make this very weird music feel like something you’d want to dance to. I think the best way I can describe it is: imagine if a math rock band decided to stop trying to be cool and just made the most fun, relentless version of their music possible. There are no verse-chorus-verse structures here. Songs build through loops that layer and shift, with pieces added and removed until the track reaches some sort of controlled explosion, then resets.

This time out Vol. II feels more confident. The songs are bigger and the structures are bolder with even more vocals this time. Those interspaced vocal moments really bring the record to another level. You don’t expect them then they hit you and leave you with an incredible thirst for more. The debut was already wild, but Vol. II gives each track more room for transition tempos and freaking the fuck out.

This is a tough one because Angine de Poitrine really do sit in a pretty distant corner of music. That said, fans of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard should like this, especially if you liked King Gizz’s run of microtonal albums within their catalog, where alternate tunings create that same warped, in between sound Angine de Poitrine lean into here. You can also hear a clear Gang of Four influence in the angular, rhythm forward approach, while Primus comes to mind as well, just without those distinct Les Claypool vocals. You could also place them alongside more recent boundary pushers like black midi or Mdou Moctar and his high energy Tuareg rock.

“Fabienk” kicks off the album and it is the perfect start. In fact, its frenetic and reckless energy is immediately infectious as you hear completely new notes to your ears as Khn moves up, down and around his hybrid double-neck microtonal guitar/bass. I also love that mid-track the beats completely change with a short singling vocal outburst. “Mata Zyklek” has a killer central riff that at times left me nervous for where the music is taking me next and each note can or will turn into rush riot moment. “Utzp” is probably craziest track on the record as it starts with a polka festival type rhythm and looping guitar patterns until the last third rips. There is even a quick pause between the styles on the track which gives you a quick reset moment before you back into the head weaving.

Vocals do show up briefly in certain spots but are still really treated here as another instrument. . Wordless exclamations, layered calls and responses, and the occasional screamed phrase are woven into these tight grooves rather than sitting on top of them.

Vol. II is not going to convert everyone into a mask wearing fan but repeat listens does bring reward. You can start seeing through their eyes a bit more as the album progresses. Others I will warn you could find Vol. II exhausting, and that’s a fair reaction. But for the people who lock into it, this record is one of the more exciting things to come out in a while. It’s a band doing something genuinely their own, and doing it with real skill underneath all the costume and spectacle. I would be wrong to say there is no gimmick here because the group’s look screams it. There is some slight overall repetitiveness listening front to back here but exact moments are hard to pin down or hold against the album too much. Angine de Poitrine have a real connection to the music they make The question now is where they go from here, and whether they can keep building on a sound and really test its limits.