Tag Archives: math rock

Angine de Poitrine – Vol. II

14 Jun

Even if you haven’t yet heard their music, you might have seen clips of Angine de Poitrine around social media already; their polka-dotted, masked presence is hard to mistake for anything else. In the same vein as Daft Punk and Glass Beams, Angine de Poitrine materialized from the outset with their own lore – the stated story here being that they are a pair of space-faring, music-loving aliens called Khn and Klek de Poitrine.

So, behind the mystery, what are they really? At the heart of it, Angine de Poitrine is a math rock band that deals primarily in microtones – the notes outside of the traditional 12-note Western system. The duo combines the inherent jaggedness of microtonal music with a phenomenal sense of melody and rhythm to result in a free-flowing yet utterly groovy cacophony of sounds; think alien jazz-rock. Throw in the looping skills of the guitarist-slash-bassist plus their inimitable visual presentation, and you’ve got yourself a viral band indeed.

The duo released their first album, Vol. I, back in 2024, and are now back with Vol. II in April of this year. Over a thirty-six minute run-time on Vol. II, Angine de Poitrine take us on a kaleidoscopic, frenetic journey unlike anything else.

“Fabienk” opens with the sparse squawks of what could be an alien spaceship; gradually, layer by layer, the song unfolds into a hard-charging banger that could, say, soundtrack the boss level of an indie video game. “Mata Zyklek” is a firecracker of a rock song – one could easily imagine Cadillac using this for new commercials in place of Led Zep’s “Rock and Roll”.

With “Utzp”, the aliens go in a totally different direction: a simple melody set against staccato upbeats could remind the listener of a Greek wedding song, or perhaps Eastern European polka. “Sarniezz” opens with a thick bass riff that eventually takes center stage, shaping and molding the guitar and drums.

The psychedelic “Yor Zarad” masters the art of hypnotic repetition, interspersed with just enough melody to imbue the track with a sense of irrepressibility. “Angor”, the final track of the album (although we found that the order of listening doesn’t really matter), utilizes switches in rhythmic pattern and a mesmerizing microtonal melody that snakes into your brain and keeps you locked in.

Just as a side note (and this is purely a matter of opinion), Vol. II does get a little overwhelming in the second half of the album, especially if one is listening all the way through; there’s just too many ideas, snippets, concepts that the band brings up through the interminable layers, leading to a sort of mental fatigue trying to process everything. However, your mileage may vary; perhaps you’ll listen to Vol. II and wish for a Vol. III that’s twice as long.

Aside from the microtones and the masks, there’s another reason that Angine de Poitrine went viral this year. The band came into the limelight in early 2026 with an extremely well-received KXEP set, at the same time when AI had started looming, like a Death Star birthed by evil billionaires, over anything creative or human. Ironically, this duo of so-called aliens became a symbol of anti-AI – because no AI model could ever produce something as creative, random and unusual as Angine de Poitrine.

@willfrancis24

@anginedepoitrineofficiel have been breaking the internet for weeks now. Is surreal art and music like this going to proliferate in a world where anyone can create music and media with the push of a button? Is it a coincidence that this is happening at the same time as AI-produced music is going mainstream? Are there echoes of past art movements such as Impressionism, Abstract Art, Dadaism? #AI #anginedepoitrine #aimusic #genai #arthistory #arthistorytiktok #microtonal #artificialintelligence

♬ original sound – Will Francis – AI + Marketing – Will Francis – AI + Marketing

As with all well-crafted instrumental music, this album stays with you. Angine de Poitrine are experts at weaving in intricate melodies, counter to and in between motifs that they’ve been building for some time. It’s those melodies that stay with you and keep you coming back for yet another listen.

Rating: 8.5/10

Tags: , ,

Foals – Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Pt 2

31 Dec

There are few double-whammies quite like the one that Foals dealt us this year. They released a career-defining album, Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Pt 1, in March of this year. The conspicuous “Pt 1” in the title left many wondering when the next part would be released. Little did we know that it would be a mere seven months later, with October’s Everything Not Saved Will be Lost Pt 2.

If Pt 1 produced fantastic hits like “Exits” and “Café d’Athens”, Pt 2 takes it one step further. Here, practically every song is a bonafide hit. The album opens with an atmospheric, one-minute intro called “Red Desert” – a palette of echoing synths that conjures up a mystical Marrakesh adventure, perhaps. But the atmospherics immediately segue into Foals’ best song of the year, “The Runner”. Heady, heavy and more than a little apocalyptic, “The Runner” is probably the best arena rock this year – with a killer chorus to boot (“When I, when I fall down, fall down / then I know to keep on running”).

Rather than just being the star of the first half, “The Runner” is actually the first of four absolute beastly tracks. “Wash Off”, is a powerhouse of drums and guitars that goes from frenetic to downright crazy – before all the layers convalesce into a blissful 30-second ending. “Black Bull” is a maddening, murky blitz that lends total credence to the song title (also: see music video). And finally, “Like Lightning” is almost reminiscent of the Black Keys, with Dan Auerbach-esque vocals and a sluggish, bluesy feel – but a banger nonetheless.

It’s not until the slower-paced “Dreaming Of” that the listener is allowed to catch her breath. After the brief piano interlude (“Ikaria”), we are led into the final stretch of the album, and that’s when things really pick up to an unexpected level.

“10,000 Feet” is a dramatic, rock-opera version of the myth of Icarus. “Into the Surf” is a dreamy track that highlights Yannis Philippakis’ vocals and a spindly piano. But Foals have saved the best for last, with the complete masterpiece of an album closer, “Neptune”.

At ten minutes and eighteen seconds, “Neptune” is no radio-friendly hit (unlike most of the rest of the album). From start to finish, it’s Technicolor, multi-faceted and visceral; the swansong at the end of the apocalypse just as humanity finally perishes in an arduous battle. There are simply too many elements of the song to describe in words – you have to hear it with your own two ears – but we’d like to highlight in particular the driving bassline and Philippakis’ vivid vocals.

You may notice that, in the course of this review, we didn’t focus too much on the lyrics. That’s not to say that they are not important or well-written; they are both of these things. It’s just that the force of the instrumentals on this album outweighs everything else.

As Foals themselves have stated, Everything Not Saved Will Not Be Lost is two-piece locket. The two albums, when considered together, paint a picture of a Mad Max-style apocalypse: broken, wild but exciting in its own way. Both albums are great, but it’s with Pt 2 that Foals really stick their landing. And for that reason, Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Pt 2 is probably their best album so far – and maybe even one of the best albums of the year.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Foals – Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost, Pt. 1

10 Jun

It’s 2008. The indie rock world is on a multi-year high – after the Strokes’ game-changing debut in 2001, there is a virtually non-stop stream of buzzy indie rock bands: Franz Ferdinand, the Libertines, Kaiser Chiefs, the Arctic Monkeys and so on. Many wonder: will there ever be a need for yet another indie rock band?

Through all that noise, Foals managed to prick up the world’s collective ears with their blistering math rock debut album, Antidotes. Math rock – with its frenetic arrangements and asymmetrical time signatures – had of course been around for a couple of decades (see: Slint, Polvo), but Foals served to bring it to the forefront of the ’00s resurgent indie rock scene.

Over the years, Foals released three more albums; but for many fans from the original Antidotes era, the band has strayed from its trademark sound into a slightly different tone. “Spanish Sahara” from 2009’s Total Life Forever featured on that era’s edgy prestige TV shows (Skins, Entourage). “Mountain at My Gates” from 2015’s What Went Down starred on the FIFA 2016 soundtrack. There’s nothing wrong with these things, of course; but the new material didn’t capture your undivided attention in the first two seconds – as did, say, Antidotes’ “Balloons” or “Red Socks Pugie”.

The fifth album, 2019’s Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Pt. 1, changes that trajectory. Here, the band seems to have finally figured out how to piece together the irrepressible energy of the first album – jagged riffs and sing-shouted lyrics – with the more mainstream, polished feel of the latter albums.

There are several stand-outs on this album. We already wrote about “Exits” – a slithering majesty of a track that moves seamlessly from the dramatic to the psychedelic over the course of a showstopping six minutes. (Do also check out the music video, featuring Game of Thrones’ Isaac Hempstead-Wright.) Another must-listen is “Café D’Athens” – a fascinating juxtaposition of aloof vocals layered over nerve-wracking, tinny beats; think Radiohead meets Hercules & Love Affair.

What we really love about Foals is their ability to conjure up abstract feelings within decidedly non-abstract music. “White Onions” summons a claustrophobic feel with its repetitive riffs and non-stop drums; aptly, the lyrics reference lairs, mazes, cages, and fighting for air. “Syrups” is sexier: a thick bassline leads into heady guitars and steady drums, eliciting perhaps a mysterious road-trip into the clear night sky (“’Cause I’m about to take flight / Please don’t ask me why,” chime in the prescient lyrics).

This is the reason that Foals are featured on so many soundtracks: they are exceptionally gifted at pinning down moods and feelings within the confines of their spindly guitars and relentless beats. The band’s first four outings tended to focus on one part of that two-part puzzle: either the feelings or the music.

With Everything, the band has finally put it together. Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Pt. 1 is one of the best albums of 2019 – and, as luck would have it, we are still due for Pt. 2. We can’t wait.

Tags: , , , ,