Quebec buzz band Angine de Poitrine continues world domination with Spotify, Google, Billboard nods
Just when you thought the hype surrounding Angine de Poitrine couldn’t get any bigger, the Quebec buzz band’s popularity continues to reach new heights.
This week, the polka-dot costumed instrumental math-rock duo hit No. 1 on Spotify’s Viral 50 – Global chart with their song Fabienk off their second album Vol. II, released on April 3. The list denotes “the most viral tracks right now” around the world, according to Spotify, and is different from the most-streamed songs.
The Viral 50 list measures how fast a song gains traction and how much it is shared, combining analytics from blogs and social media. The track has been streamed over five million times in two weeks. Vol. II also reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Canadian Albums chart.
Google is paying tribute to the group by displaying a triangle-shaped icon near the bottom of the page when you search for Angine de Poitrine. If you click on the triangle, the screen fills with polka-dots. Triangles are central to the group’s tongue-in-cheek cultish appeal; band members and fans put their hands together to form triangles as a means of communication and appreciation.
Angine de Poitrine consists of guitarist Khn and drummer Klek de Poitrine, who are brothers from some faraway dimension according to the group’s lore. The identities of the musicians, who hail from Chicoutimi, are not known.
Rolling Stone wrote about the Spotify achievement, saying, “For a group that has operated largely under the radar, their ascension is a phenomenon Canada has not seen in a very long time.”
The band revealed this week that it had to turn down an offer to tour with Jack White because of the demands of its own busy touring schedule. However, they will open for White in Toronto on July 14 at the RBC Amphitheatre, which has a capacity of 16,000. The group plays Toronto’s Mod Club that same night, as well as July 15 and 18. Resale tickets for the shows on the 14th and 18th were going for between $250 and $300 each on Ticketmaster on Thursday.
Angine de Poitrine’s agenda continues to fill up with concerts around the world including more sold-out dates in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Bristol, Glasgow, Dublin, London, Paris and Hamburg, among others.
The group announced last week that it has established an international distribution network to sell copies of its two albums on vinyl and CD, starting June 12.
The viral phenomenon that launched Angine de Poitrine began Feb. 5, when a video of their Live on KEXP performance at France’s Trans Musicales festival was shared by the Seattle radio station. The 28-minute clip has now been viewed over 10 million times.
The band hit mainstream status in Quebec after appearing on hit talk show Tout le monde en parle at the beginning of March, where Khn and Klek spoke in gibberish to bemused host Guy A. Lepage, while their manager answered questions about their surging popularity.
The duo delighted hometown fans with a sold-out show to launch the new album, April 3 at Club Soda. A second launch date, Saturday at the same venue, is also sold out.
Angine de Poitrine has several dates around Quebec in the coming months. Its next Montreal dates include a free outdoor performance on the Montreal International Jazz Festival’s main TD Stage, June 27 at 9:30 p.m., and another Club Soda date, Nov. 14, for which tickets are not yet on sale.
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