The Blow

The Blow is a band comprised of Khaela Maricich. Formerly known as Get the Hell Out of the Way of the Volcano, The Blow has toured around the country and the Northwest, playing shows of stories and songs made up beforehand as well as right there on the spot. Bonus Album is a collection of songs that are outside the context of The Blow’s more theme-based, operatic live pieces.

The new release by the Blow: hors d'oeuvres sampler. Want to know what's in there? We've listed the ingredients on little tags next to the dishes, so you know what you're putting on your plate: (songs 1 & 5): Solitary musings on the potential emotional connotations of commonplace life-science subjects. (songs 2,3,6,7,9): Imagine the playground, and the songs that you'd make with some sticks and the sound of your voice bouncing off of the brick wall in the back. Not the fleshy jean-stretching numbers where the bikini clad girls do their jiggling, but the skinny- legged sounds from when bouncing meant something more like Chinese jumprope: music for the hops, from back before you had any hips. (song 4): A creamy version of a recipe stolen from Uncle Wolf Colonel. (song 8): The results of two feisty cooks teaming up in the kitchen and tossing a tender bossa nova song back and forth between them, until there was enough sound in it to feed the whole drunken marching band as they wobble in the street at the end of the parade. After all scuffles between the drumbeats and the juicy ooh's had died down and the streets were cleared, the chefs (the Blow's, Khaela Maricich, and the Microphones' Phil Elvrum) found their aprons were so dirty, that instead of trying to wash them, they attached them to sticks and are saving them to carry as talismans in next year's festival. "Some Chocolates" is a duet with Mirah.

These songs have a playground feel; some are made-up for entertaining oneself while leaning against the chain link at the far edge of the field, others are singing games where the notes get woven between a pair of singers or a roomful. These odds and ends are like the collection of artifacts that you find in the bottom of your purse, items that are small and necessary and reminiscent of something important, including a very suave take on Wolf Colonel’s “Jet Ski Accidents”. The black sheep of this assembly of songs is “Watch the Water Roll Up”, which starts out as a lonely observation of the kids at recess, and turns into a post parade jumble of bands and orchestras (all mixed up on the sidewalk and spilling onto your yard) party song.

Khaela recorded Bonus Album in her private recording cave at the Dub Narcotic studio, Olympia, Wa. It was produced in collaboration with Phil Elvrum. Phil is returning the favor, as Khaela has assisted him on numerous Microphones recording sessions for Elvrum's The Microphones.

"Get The Hell Out of the Way of the Volcano opened; that's just a woman named Khaela, who's appeared on Microphones recordings, various Olympia-themed compilations and so forth. Anyone's who's impressed with the likes of Mirah and Lois, pop songwriters who thrive on unusual imagery and personability, needs to check her music out IMMEDIATELY. Her songs were almost uniformly impressive, driven by dry vocals and odd, almost ukelele-sounding guitar-picking. Her between-song patter was a highlight as well, even including anagrams of the other performers' names (did you know that 'Sam Jayne' rearranged can also spell 'Enya Jams?')." – Mike Appelstein

Track Listing

1. Jet Ski Accidents
2. She Buried Herself in the Air
3. Some Chocolates
4. The Democracy of Small Things
5. The Moon is There, I Am Here
6. The Tour-Me
7. Sing Like Kyle
8. Watch the Water Roll Up
9. Little Sally Tutorial