Now at first glance you might be thinking, what's with the gimmicky black and white dotted costumes, makeup, the golden triangle insignia etc. This all feels rather too contrived, its weirdness feels arch, does it not? This is the experimental rock duo Canadian group Angine de Poitrine, formed six years ago. Their nom de plumes are - Klek the drummer and Khn the micro tonal guitar and bass player. They recently released their second album, but have suddenly become something of an internet sensation..
Their music is built out of repetition, of layering guitar lines over one another, sometimes shifting delightfully into atonality, that suddenly erupt into a straight slab of rock or jazz riffery. Occasionally there's a sonically altered vocal like a Star Wars alien. There music has an insanely driven quality. When they hit their full stride they are an irresistible force. As I watch them I think - would this feel any different if they weren't dressed in so avant guarde a fashion? And the answer is yes, but the music they produce would remain interesting. You might start to take it more seriously. The presentation may feel deceptively a daft parody, but it is constantly in a dialogue with the music. Weirdness meeting weirdness.
I think its best to conceive of the costumes as all part and parcel of an elaborate performance art piece, and the music as radically anti any convention or musical genre you might want to bag them in. Sherpa, with it's Arabic tinged chord sequence is about as strikingly original as they come. It is quintessentially them. Angine de Poitrine, incase you were wondering, is French for Angina Pectoris. Chest pain in other words. Whether they will surpass their internet fame and have legs longer term, who can say? Will the masks eventually have to come off?
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