Once upon a time, Khaela Maricich was the woman who sounded a lot like Mirah and was partly responsible for the best Microphones song ever recorded, “Oh Anna.” Since then she had a short stint as the ludicrously named Get The Hell Out of the Way of the Volcano, a one-woman sound machine that later transformed into the Blow, to the relief of hundreds of indie music factcheckers everywhere. The Concussive Caress (or, Casey Caught Her Mom Singing Along With the Vacuum) was the last album I picked up from her, a skittish collection of half-formed beat excursions, lofi analog indie rap and vaguely experimental pop in the K Records vein. Despite covering a lot of bases musically, it all sounded very much like a K albuum; take away the more experimental touches and you basically have a charming young woman making music in her bedroom. Well, actually it was recorded at the Dub Narcotic studios, but even though that studio is the size of a gymnasium, it’s amazingly good at producing records that sound like they could’ve been recorded in a bedroom.

Anyways, since The Concussive Caress Maricich has been busy. Perhaps her smartest move in the last couple of years was to add a second member, Jona Bechtolt. If you’re like me and you haven’t heard this latest incarnation of the Blow, then “Pardon Me” will be a revelation: this is how you imagined the Blow sounding in your head when you first heard about them, how you thought they should’ve sounded all along. Slinky, sexy and quickfooted, it’s the Blow on steroids—or maybe the Blow with dance lessons? Infinitely catchier than anything off The Concussive Caress, “Pardon Me” represents a breakthrough for the Blow. And now that Mirah has taken a year off after some lukewarm releases, we need someone to carry the K banner proudly. With the Blow currently opening for Jenny Lewis on tour, I think we have a new flagbearer.

P.S. Khaela has a blog. And it’s not like that stupid blog Moby had, either. Man, that was stupid.