Located on South Cayuga Street, slightly off the Commons, the Wildfire Lounge has the potential to become one of Ithaca’s premier music venues. This is a place with multiple options: you can sit a good distance away from the action and talk while enjoying a drink from the bar; you can relax on plush couches, put your legs up and rest your eyes; you can sit or stand as close to the music as you want and share the experience with like-minded friends and friends-to-be; and Saturday night, the up and coming Wildfire Lounge was host to one of Cornell’s up and coming bands —Blow! The band opened for Brooklyn group Asobi Seksu, and did not fail to impress with their innovative set.

Blow! is the brainchild of Bruce Hyde ’06 and Johnny Zachman, whose meeting last September was purely coincidental. Hyde, who has played in several local bands in the past couple of years, met Johnny at an open mic night at The Nines restaurant last year, and the two started comparing backgrounds, favorite artists and ideas for a new band. Although the two band-mates get their musical inspiration from completely different places, Bruce and Johnny recognize a mutual respect for the other’s talents. While Bruce is a self-taught artist and a jazz lover, Johnny is a classically trained musician who cites indie-rock bands The Books and The National as two of his favorites. In fact, the looping present in Blow!’s songs can be traced back to some of Johnny’s musical influences; indie and alternative music fans may recognize looping from many of Andrew Bird’s songs, and the soundscapes and digital layering are influenced by Animal Collective and Bon Iver (Johnny uses his laptop to record music for replaying live). Though Blow!’s songs are technically masterful, the musicians’ talent is also evident in their lyrics. Bruce is a stellar songwriter with a unique, raspy voice to match, and has been writing songs for quite a few years.

Blow!’s dynamic show was particularly fun because of the interesting way they constructed their songs on the stage. Live recording and looping, now semi-famous because of Andrew Bird, band mates Hyde and Zachman created tracks on a variety of instruments, and then replayed those tracks to create a soundscape which they used as background music for their live performance. At first, it was odd to see Bruce tap out some stray beats on an electric drum set prior to a song, but the way those sounds became an integral part of the upcoming song allowed a fresh appreciation for the music’s intricate form. Indeed, both members of Blow! are well-versed in looping, and commonly loop electric guitar, bass and drums into their songs. In addition, both members were playing electric guitar, bass and acoustic guitar for the entirety of their set, with Bruce adding the vocals. Looping and layering functions in many ways for Blow!: it creates intricate soundscapes for Bruce and Johnny to use in their songs; it showcases how rhythmically aware they are at all times; it is an incredible way for everyone in the room to realize how complicated the song constructions are; and it creates a delightfully ghostly mood because much more is happening than meets the eye.

The two act in perfect synergy on stage, and although they didn’t talk too much between songs on Saturday, it is only because each was focused on his own work. The end result was fantastic — their unique soundscape gives their music a spacey sound, while the repetitive background lets Bruce’s vocals take center stage.

Blow!’s first EP, Overrated, is set to release March 26, the band will be playing at the Wildfire Lounge again, as well as at The Shop and The Giving Tree (formerly the ABC Café) in the next couple of months. Each show is a unique experience, not only because they perform some interesting covers, but also because the band is always experimenting with new electric and acoustic looping and layering. Blow! shouldn’t be missed, and you can keep up with them at their website http://www.blowexclamationpoint.com.