The Blow

The Blow are an electro-pop band featuring Khaela Maricich and Melissa Dyne. Maricich formerly released recordings under the name Get the Hell Out of the Way of the Volcano, after which she recorded (with the help of some guests) for K under the name the Blow, beginning with 2002's Bonus Album, which was followed by The Concussive Caress, or, Casey Caught Her Mom Singing Along with the Vacuum in 2003. Maricich collaborated with Jona Bechtolt for several releases, including 2004's limited-edition EP Poor Aim: Love Songs, the following year's Everyday Examples of Humans Facing Straight Into the Blow (which contained material previously released under Maricich's earlier Volcano moniker), and 2006's Paper Television. With Bechtolt departing to focus on his own project YACHT, Maricich began collaborating with sound and installation artist Dyne in 2007, and relocated to Brooklyn in 2008. The Blow began recording tracks for a fourth album in 2011; The Blow appeared in September 2013. Soon after the album's release, Maricich and Dyne began working on a more hardware-based, live-sounding approach to electronic music and incorporated modular synths and vintage samplers into their arsenal of equipment. They also founded the WOMANPRODUCER initiative, which celebrated women, trans, and non-binary artists who produce their own music with an archive, panels, interviews, and performances. The Blow recorded and self-produced their fifth album, 2017's Brand New Abyss, in their Brooklyn apartment and other locations in the U.S. Northeast. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi