Kevin Blechdom

Kevin Blechdom was one-half of acclaimed local avant-odd duo Blectum From Blechdom; she relocated to Berlin two years ago after the band's dissolution. Blechdom was the jokier of the pair (the other being Blevin Blectum aka Sagan member Bevin Kelley), and her subsequent solo works have veered into sophomoric silliness at times. But with Eat My Heart Out, Blechdom comes into her own as an engaging songwriter, with some imaginatively jaunty, Baroque electronic pop. There's still an undercurrent of bonkers humor here, however, which helps sugarcoat the serious angst, melodramatic melodies, and confessional ruminations on affairs of the heart. Though a tad shrill in spots, many of the tunes smack of '80s new-wave bombast, and in a good way. The melancholy "Suspended in Love" is a lovely torch song worthy of the finest cabaret chanteuse, and "The Porcupine and the Jellyfish" is just a flat-out fun ditty, like many of the 19 vignettes on the disc. Also included is a bonus mpeg movie, Countdown to Nothing, that mutates from lo-fi Euro-art film to Kevin lip-syncing songs off the album. It's strange and worth a look, if only because it visually illustrates the Blechdom mind-set.