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The Blow

Paper Television

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by Ruben_James on 12/05/2006

In a recent interview, Khaela Maricich admitted, “A lot of our friends shared our same perverted love of mainstream party station music, but they weren’t necessarily making it.” Although I have no idea who Khaela Maricich kicks it with, ‘tis true that most young indie bands aren’t making the same kind of cross-pollinated good time music as the Blow. There were a few in 2006: CSS and Baby Dayliner to name a couple. But, times are a little scary and some (The Thermals, Pink Mountaintops) have recorded albums in direct response to the fear and anger. Folks deal with hard times in all sorts of ways and the Blow has dealt with it in their own way. They dance the pain away! The Blow ends the liner notes to Paper Television with this statement:

In response to these dark times, nationally, and internationally, we spent a good part of our time making a pop record. Fearing the possibly even darker times ahead, we have given ourselves the following advice: A) Don’t stop paying attention, even to the ugly stuff, B) Remember how to say what you think... About everything, even when it’s totally scary.

The Blow has made a party record of mainstream pop, doo wop, hip hop, and dance floor anthems in response to the dread we all feel. If the end is nigh, we might as well have a good f’ing time. The dry, charismatic vocals of Maricich and the laptop wizardry of Jona Bechtolt wouldn’t seem out of place streaming from a Super Sweet Sixteen’s pink iPod mini or the turntable of a Williamsburg NYU student. “Pile of Gold” exemplifies this with a “My Sharona”-esque riff that gives way to Maricich’s witty metaphoric lyrics comparing the goods and services offered by the female species to the goods and services of economics. The teen lip synchs: “The boys, you know they want it. They want it,” into a full-length mirror while the hipster gets off on phrases such as “massive sapphic exodus” -- a phrase that you’re more likely to hear in a Women’s Studies graduate course than on Top 40.

With Paper Television, the Blow succeeds in making an intelligent album that is only as intelligent as you want it to be. There are real lyrical and musical gems buried beneath the “mainstream party station music” that the band set out to typify. Remember: Don’t stop paying attention. But hey, if you just wanna dance... you’ll never even notice.

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My Mixtape Pile Of Gold [MP3]

Album Details

Year: 2006
Label: K Records
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Tracklist

1	Pile Of Gold
2	Parentheses
3	The Big U
4	The Long List Of Girls
5	Bonjour Juene Fille
6	Babay (Eat A Critter, Feel It's Wrath)
7	Eat Your Heart Up
8	Pardon Me
9	Fists Up
10	True Affection

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