Put Angine de Poitrine on Your Next Workout Playlist

While attending a child’s birthday party recently, I was asked a very standard question by another parent: What have you been up to lately?

The answer I gave had something to do with pulling weeds. What I wanted to say, however, was: I’ve been doing high-intensity VO2 intervals on my bicycle while listening to an eccentric French-Canadian rock band that dresses like extras in Yo Gabba Gabba. 

But hey, sometimes you just gotta keep it simple.

Like a growing number of music fans, I recently discovered Angine de Poitrine, a two-person band from Quebec that plays experimental rock that absolutely slaps. I’m not alone in this opinion. The duo, who perform wearing polka-dotted costumes and absurdist masks, attained Internet stardom in February when a video of their live performance for Seattle radio station KEXP went bananas on YouTube. Give it a watch.

People like this band for its bonkers costumes and wild eccentricities. The duo have funny names, Klek and Khn, and according to the band website, they are space-time voyagers who are fascinated by “hot dogs, pyramids, and the sheer grandeur of rock music.” They do not sing, but instead growl and grunt beneath their Muppet-like masks. And they are barefoot.

People love this band for the heart-thumping, brain-melting jams. I’m no rock critic, just an average listener, so here goes my best attempt to describe Angine de Poitrine’s sound. There’s an atonal but catchy guitar-and-bass riff that repeats itself over slow, methodical drums in a weird, impossible-to-count time signature. OK, now the drums go double-time, the guitar player reverses the riff, and the song magically transforms into a groove that makes you want to dance or run or hop in the air.

It’s a wild alchemy that seems to defy music logic and description. In an interview with the French music website Rock & Folk, the band members describe their style as “mantra-rock dada pythago-cubist orchestra.”

I’ve come to love the band’s pythago-dada-cubist-whatever sound when I’m exercising. I recently fired it up during a demanding bike ride and experienced the magical sensation that only occurs when thumping music and pumping endorphins come together to form an ethereal high. You see, that get-up-and-dance reaction to Angine de Poitrene’s groove also occurs when you’re pedaling a bicycle, running, or hiking. I have found that when a song kicks into high gear, you do, too.

This music is ideal for endurance athletes who have a hard, punishing workout on the schedule. Are you about to do hill repeats on your bicycle? Fire it up. Does your running plan call for 30/30 VO2 intervals? Give it a try. Are you looking for a jam to help you hike or ski to the top of the mountain in record time? Angine de Poitrene will get you to sweat and push yourself hard.

But there’s no singing, you say. Alas, for those active-lifestyle fanatics who require song lyrics, this band may not be the one for you. I totally get it—repeatable, catchy words can distract your brain when the burn gets too painful, or your breathing becomes so deep you want to quit.

I will say, however, that the wacky twists and turns that Anigne de Poitrene takes during each song accomplish the same thing. Your brain will not get bored, as the songs always deviate from the time signature, switch up guitar riffs, and change speed seemingly at random. I’ve listened to a few of their songs dozens of times, yet I cannot predict the twists and turns. My brain keeps trying to guess where the heck the music will go next.

Again, I’m not the only one. On YouTube, there seems to be a cottage industry of professional musicians, drum teachers, and rock critics posting their bewildered reactions upon hearing the band for the first time. “Nothing Makes Sense Anymore,” is the title of one reaction video.

Anyway, I’ve embedded a Spotify playlist below. I sincerely hope that Anigne de Poitrene helps propel you through that next painful run or bike ride.