The Blow

Part performance art project, part band, The Blow is the umbrella term that applies to the musical output of Khaela Maricich, going back to her work as a solo artist, followed by the work she did with Jona Bechtolt (of Yacht). Now it is her work with Melissa Dyne, the party that apparently brought the performance art angle. The two have a dialed in, sympathetic partnership that has taken the band from where it was (catchy electropop tunes) with Bachtolt and pushed them in an artsier direction (at the pop-friendly hummable edges of the long shadow cast by Laurie Anderson). Both members play the synth. Maricich takes on the speak sing-ish vocals with her sweet, whispery, voice. The songwriting is sharp, the melodies are a little understated, but they grow on the listener quickly, and the synth-based instrumentation brings an art house type flavor to their music, some miles away from the coffee house flavor Maricich started with.