The Blow
Paper Television
K Records

The Blow started as a one-woman project by visual/audible artist and performer Khaela Maricich, but after a couple of albums along came Jona Bechtolt to make The Blow a twosome. Maricich used to record as Get the Hell Out of the Way of the Volcano, which sounds a bit wilder. Did she wake the volcano? There she blows...

The Blow plays minimalist, electronic pop, presenting a new wave of girl mind-power. "Pile of Gold" sounds a bit like a simplistic Tricky track, while "Parentheses" is a real catchy pop gem. Their pleasantly pounding rhythms make the spine of the music, while most of the instrumentation is quite sparse. Keys and blip-dub-electronica. That said The Blow somehow make me think of British 1980s new wave bands like the AuPairs and Slits. At least the attitude. The songs are surely dancable, in a charmingly whimsical way. Lyrically they're quite to the point with sexual (the female/male sexes), uh, 'undertones and overtones'. Relations, affection, etc, all put out in a cunning way. Like "The Long List of Girls": "I guess I'm on the long list of girls that love the shit out of you, we know what not to expect, it's about what we'll get out of you".

Besides the neat "Parentheses" the poppy, quick-beat "Eat Your Heart Up" and the calmer closing track "True Affection" are favourites of mine. Some of their songs tend to be slightly too weak, but all in all Paper Television is a charming listen. The album is quite short, which doesn't make this wasting time on some alternative television.

Copyright © 2007 Håvard Oppøyen