Core members Meredith McHugh & Christian Best returning to Baltimore
from Australia in 2017 saw the release of Smoke Bellow’s sophomore
album ISOLATION 3000 (Ehse, 2018), followed by a line-up shuffle. They
eventually recruited one of their favorite drummers, and dear friend,
Emmanuel Nicolaidis (Thank You, Oh Hang). With Open for Business the
three members set out to create a set of songs more immediate and bare
than previous outings. The album title itself is a cheeky reference to
Maryland governor Larry Hogan’s less than inspired motto “we’re open
for business”. Half of the songs were written in a room together and
the second half via email (for obvious reasons). At the time they were
listening to a lot of post punk and were struck with the partnership
of drums and bass as propulsive instruments. The trio started writing
songs around that idea - with the rhythm as a brace to hang their
decorations. Sonically, Smoke Bellow are inspired by disparate
sources. The heyday of Compass Point studios’ famed rhythm section of
Sly and Robbie sustained them for months. Others included good old VU,
ESG, guitar hero Zani Diabate, The Raincoats (especially their
under-appreciated second album, Odyshape), the frenetic sound
collisions of the Flying Lizards, the ever warm blanket of Yo La
Tengo, the evolving repetition of Stereolab, the understated genius of
Asa Osborne, as well as Philip Glass and Steve Reich. The David Byrne/
Robert Wilson "Knee plays" reminded them of the joy of the spoken word
set to music.