The Blow
The Blow
Electronic
??1/2
The Blow, a duo project with Khaela Maricich and Melissa Dyne, attempts to capitalize on the rising popularity of electro-pop music but falls flat. The band, which unites Maricich’s vocals and electro-synth beats with Dyne’s background synthesizer, attempts to create pulsing club sounds. Instead, the duo musters bland tracks that are almost indistinguishable from one another.
While Maricich has a powerful voice, it is her monotone droning that is the dominant force on many of the tracks. This is most prevalent on “Like Girls,” as Maricich confusingly muses about her blunt affection for the female sex (“We all like girls”). The synthesizer work on this album seems lazy and elementary, as each track seems to feature the same few key and chord hits as the previous.
With the exception of “Hey” and one or two others, which have three different levels of synth beats, the other tracks only go as deep as two different beats laid over each other. This hints that Maricich and Dyne are not comfortable enough in their abilities to make complex, full rhythms. And although minimalism in music is on the rise, evidenced by Kanye West’s Yeezus and Lorde’s Pure Heroine, The Blow’s dry electronics are not rich enough in their few elements to fall into this category.
While a few tracks showcase Maricich’s strong voice and provide musical depth by contributing a few grooves, the majority of this album plays like a confusing monologue lacking a defined musical direction.
— Will Jackson
The Blow is available now. Listen to “From the Future” from the record below.
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