Vol. II (Angine de Poitrine album)

Vol. II
Cover art of the 2026 Angine de Poitrine album Vol. II
Studio album by
Angine de Poitrine
Released3 April 2026 (2026-04-03)
Genres
Length36:50
LabelSpectacles Bonzaï
Angine de Poitrine chronology
Vol. 1
(2024)		 Vol. II
(2026)

Vol. II is the second studio album by the Canadian rock group Angine de Poitrine, released on 3 April 2026 through Spectacles Bonzaï. The primarily instrumental album combines progressive and math rock with danceable melodies and rhythms.[1][2] It received generally positive reviews, with Pitchfork writing that the band "managed to take some of the unsexiest music in history and give it the type of groove that renders it undeniable".[3]

The album was shortlisted for the 2026 Polaris Music Prize,[4] Further, the songs "Fabienk" and "Yor Zarad" were longlisted for the SOCAN Polaris Song Prize,[5] with "Fabienk" making the final shortlist.[6]

Background and release

Angine de Poitrine formed in Saguenay, Quebec, in 2019. The duo had known each other since they were teenagers.[7] The band is anonymous; in what they have described as an "Andy Kaufman-esque joke", they perform in oversized papier-mâché masks with giant noses and full-body black-and-white polka-dotted costumes.[8][9]

In 2024 they released their first studio album, Vol. I.[10] The band recorded a four-song set for the Seattle-based radio station KEXP in 2025, which achieved viral popularity and has amassed millions of views. They were named artist of the year by GAMIQ, and having hired an international booking agent, established a 2026 tour spanning concerts and festivals in North America and Europe.[11]

Vol. II was released on 3 April 2026. It consists of six songs, three of which were part of the band's KEXP performance, including the single "Fabienk".[3] Initially a digital-only release, it was later announced that both Vol. II and the band's first album Vol. 1 would receive a wider, international release on vinyl and CD in June 2026, with ATO Records handling the release in the United States.[12]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.4/10[13]
Metacritic84/100[14]
Review scores
SourceRating
Clash8/10[1]
Exclaim!10/10[15]
PasteB+[16]
Pitchfork8/10[3]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Vol. II received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 84 out of 100 from eight critic scores.[14] The review aggregator Any Decent Music gave the album a weighted average score of 8.4 out of 10 from nine critic scores.[13]

Vol. II received an 8.0 score from Pitchfork, whose Christopher R. Weingarten remarked at the band's popularity despite being comparable to music that is not "remotely fashionable". He wrote that the math rock tendencies of the songs should be off-putting to those who are not fans of that genre, but that their best attribute is being able to "dance this mess around".[3]

Exclaim! gave the album a perfect 10 score – the first perfect score given by the publication since 2023[17] – and called it "magnetic and serpentine, yet surprisingly manageable". Reviewer Marko Djurdjić acknowledges the gimmickry of the band's style and quirks, but points out that gimmicks have long been a part of rock music, continuing: "Of course it's pretentious and performative, but it also lacks cynicism and hopelessness, and that's something we can all use a bit more of."[15] Writing for The New York Times, Jon Pareles called the album's songs "tightly wound" and termed it "music of precision, agility and stamina, adding up to a contagious manic energy",[2] while Casey Epstein-Gross wrote for Paste that "never before has technical mastery sounded so fun".[16]

James Kilkenny, the reviewer for Clash, believed the album a significant improvement over Vol. I, and wrote that the album "proves that [the band is] far more than a whimsical gimmick". He praised the group's ability to oscillate between maximalist bombast and a "lustrous miniature orchestra", and termed the album "an addictive, clever, and primal magnum opus".[1] Writing for Louder Than War, MK Bennett praised the album as being "almost supernaturally entertaining", and compared the band to both Frank Zappa and Marcel Duchamp.[18]

On June 24, 2026, Complex Canada ranked Vol. II atop of their 10 Best Canadian Albums of 2026 (So Far) list.[19]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Khn and Klek de Poitrine.[20]

No.TitleLength
1."Fabienk"6:31
2."Mata Zyklek"6:09
3."Sarniezz"4:35
4."Utzp"6:50
5."Yor Zarad"6:29
6."Angor"6:16
Total length:36:50

Personnel

  • Khn de Poitrine – microtonal guitars, microtonal bass guitar, loop station, vocals
  • Klek de Poitrine – drums, vocals
  • Glegg De Poitrine – sound recording
  • Tek De Poitrine – mixing, mastering
  • Arielle Corbeau – cover artwork

Charts

Chart performance for Vol. II
Chart (2026) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[21] 21
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[22] 7
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[23]6
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[24]8
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[25] 11
Croatian International Albums (HDU)[26] 7
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[27]31
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[28]7
French Albums (SNEP)[29]53
French Rock & Metal Albums (SNEP)[30] 22
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[31]3
German Rock & Metal Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[32] 2
Irish Independent Albums (IRMA)[33] 5
Italian Albums (FIMI)[34] 73
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[35]46
Japanese Digital Albums (Oricon)[36] 8
Japanese Download Albums (Billboard Japan)[37] 6
Japanese Rock Albums (Oricon)[38] 7
Norwegian Albums (IFPI Norge)[39] 97
Norwegian Rock Albums (IFPI Norge)[40] 7
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[41] 118
Scottish Albums (Official Charts)[42]2
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[43] 13
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[44]2
UK Albums (Official Charts)[45]19
UK Independent Albums (Official Charts)[46]2
UK Rock & Metal Albums (Official Charts)[47]1
US Billboard 200[48] 44
US Top Dance Albums (Billboard)[49] 2
US Top Rock & Alternative Albums (Billboard)[50] 12

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kilkenny, James (1 April 2026). "Angine de Poitrine - Vol. II". Clash Magazine. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  2. 1 2 Pareles, Jon (3 April 2026). "With Polka Dots and Microtones, Angine de Poitrine Has Gone Viral". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Weingarten, Christopher R. (3 April 2026). "Angine de Poitrine Vol. II". Pitchfork. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  4. ↑ David Friend. "Charlotte Cornfield and indie icon Peaches among Toronto artists shortlisted for $30,000 Polaris Music Prize". Toronto Star, July 9, 2026.
  5. ↑ Natalie Harmsen, "2026 SOCAN Polaris Song Prize long list: Begonia, Cadence Weapon, Charlotte Day Wilson and more". CBC Music, June 24, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Here are the five finalists for the 2026 SOCAN Polaris Song Prize". Words & Music, July 29, 2026.
  7. ↑ Laurence, Jean-Christophe (13 November 2025). "Les nouveaux extraterrestres du rock québécois". La Presse (in Canadian French). Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  8. ↑ Gheciu, Alex Nino (13 March 2026). "Quebec's masked band Angine de Poitrine is blowing up. Meet the men behind the noses". The Toronto Star. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on 14 March 2026. Retrieved 6 April 2026.
  9. ↑ Amorosi, A.D. (19 March 2026). "Angine de Poitrine Put the "Big" in Ambiguous". FLOOD Magazine. Archived from the original on 20 March 2026. Retrieved 6 April 2026.
  10. ↑ "ANGINE DE POITRINE – VOL.1, by Angine de Poitrine". Bandcamp. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  11. ↑ Adams, Kelsey (10 March 2026). "Who is Angine de Poitrine? The masked Quebec band is taking the internet by storm". CBC Music. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  12. ↑ "Angine de Poitrine to Release Vol's I and II on Vinyl and CD Worldwide June 12". Glide Magazine. 9 April 2026. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
  13. 1 2 "Vol.II by Angine de Poitrine reviews". Any Decent Music. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  14. 1 2 "Vol. II". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  15. 1 2 Djurdjić, Marko (2 April 2026). "Angine de Poitrine's Vol. II is Spot On". Exclaim!. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  16. 1 2 Epstein-Gross, Casey (3 April 2026). "Angine de Poitrine thrash wildly throughout space and time". Paste. Retrieved 6 April 2026.
  17. ↑ Hudson, Alex (6 April 2026). "Dave Grohl Hops Aboard the Angine de Poitrine Bandwagon". Exclaim!. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  18. ↑ Bennett, MK (2 April 2026). "Angine de Poitrine - Vol. II - Album Review". Louder Than War. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  19. ↑ Wavvy, Mr. (24 June 2026). "Best Canadian Music 2026: Top Albums Of The Year So Far". Complex. Retrieved 25 June 2026.
  20. ↑ Pseudonyms
  21. ↑ "ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. 13 April 2026. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
  22. ↑ "Longplay Charts vom 19. Juni 2026" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  23. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Angine de Poitrine – Vol. II" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  24. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Angine de Poitrine – Vol. II" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  25. ↑ "Billboard Canadian Albums: Week of April 18, 2026". Billboard. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  26. ↑ "Lista prodaje 28. tjedan 2026. (06.07.2026. - 12.07.2026.)" [Sales list Week 28 2026] (in Croatian). HDU. 12 July 2026. Archived from the original on 22 July 2026. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
  27. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Angine de Poitrine – Vol. II" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  28. ↑ "Angine de Poitrine: Vol II" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  29. ↑ "Top Albums (Semaine du 19 juin 2026)". Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  30. ↑ "Top Rock & Metal Albums (Semaine du 7 août 2026)" (in French). Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  31. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Angine de Poitrine – Vol. II" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  32. ↑ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts: Top 20 Rock/Metal-Charts – 19 Juni 2026" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  33. ↑ "Irish Independent Chart – Week 28 2026 – Week Ending 17 Jul 2026". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 11 July 2026. Note: Select 2026 on the year selector and 10-Jul-26 on the date selector.
  34. ↑ "Album & Compilation – Classifica settimanale WK 25" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  35. ↑ "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2026-08-17" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
  36. ↑ "Oricon Top 50 Digital Albums: 2026-08-10" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
  37. ↑ "Billboard Japan Download Albums – Week of August 5, 2026". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 6 August 2026.
  38. ↑ "Oricon Rock Albums: August 10, 2026" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
  39. ↑ "Album 2026 uke 25". IFPI Norge. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  40. ↑ "Rock Albums 2026 uke 25" (in Norwegian Bokmål). IFPI Norge. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  41. ↑ "Top 200 Álbuns Semana 28 de 2026" (PDF) (in European Portuguese). Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa. p. 2. Retrieved 21 July 2026.
  42. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart on 19/6/2026 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  43. ↑ "Veckolista Album, vecka 25, 2026". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  44. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Angine de Poitrine – Vol. II". Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  45. ↑ "Official Albums Chart on 19/6/2026 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  46. ↑ "Official Independent Albums Chart on 19/6/2026 – Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  47. ↑ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart on 10/4/2026 – Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  48. ↑ "Billboard 200: Week of June 27, 2026". Billboard. Retrieved 23 June 2026.
  49. ↑ "Top Dance Albums: Week of June 27, 2026". Billboard. Retrieved 23 June 2026.
  50. ↑ "Top Rock & Alternative Albums: Week of June 27, 2026". Billboard. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
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