The Blow - Poor Aim

Back in 2004, Khaela Maricich and Jona Bechtolt attempted an experiment: working together for the first time as the Blow, they would record an EP of radio-style pop hits. The songs had to be slick enough to make it on the radio, and smart enough to make both of the collaborators proud. The delicious result of their experiment, Poor Aim: Love Songs (KLP167), is being celebrated with this K Records re-release, including the addition of several re-mixes by close friends of the Blow, including Strategy, Lucky Dragons, Alan Fortarte (White Rainbow), and by Khaela and Jona (a.k.a. YACHT) themselves. Poor Aim: Love Songs is resilient electro-pop music that can be lovingly devoured by people of all ages and coolness factors. Already, the songs have fallen into a beloved repeat-play position in many a heart (and cell phone, as ring tones!). In their experiment, the two challenged each other with stringent requirements: Jona insisted that the rhythms couldn't be redundant; Khaela guaranteed that the lyrics held sentences worth repeating. They succeeded. The songs are catchy as hell, and rise to meet all of the duo's snobby music standards. While Jona and Khaela set out with an ambitious goal (to create the perfect pop music), it was within the protective shell of the Pregnancy Series, intended as a limited pressing of 1000 CDs presented by two Portland, Ore. labels, States Rights and Slender Means Society. This is a context that implies
inaccessibility. The album was born inside this tender paradox, designed to attract the affections of a mass audience, yet limited in its availability and destined to be purchased by only a few. The Blow followed Poor Aim: Love Songs with 2006's stunning full-length album Paper Television (KLP178), but Khaela and Jona had a suspicion that their initial collection of songs might be palatable to more than just a limited edition audience. That has been confirmed undeniably by the constant demands for Poor Aim whenever the Blow
performs. Although the 12" version of Poor Aim was released by K and has never been out of print, the kids demand modern digital formats, so this re-issuing of Poor Aim: Love Songs as a full-length CD is the result.

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