Two Polaris Prizes for a Duo in Papier Mâché Alien Heads

Angine de Poitrine, a math-rock duo from Saguenay, Québec, won two Polaris prizes on Sept. 22. A large share of the attention around them comes from the staging: the pair describe themselves as an “anonymous art project,” and guitarist “Khn” and drummer “Klek” perform in polka-dotted outfits and giant papier mâché heads, done up as alien rock stars. Winning two national prizes while wearing a papier mâché alien head is a very specific kind of career, and the mask is doing real work — it makes the two of them recognizable without making them known.