Bellows describes themselves as "maximalist lo fi." In painting, maximalism is characterized by an over abundance of visual themes, shapes, colors, designs. At a certain critical mass, over abundance translates into arabasque — patterns for the sake of patterns — that wills itself via glorious repetition and conspiratory minutia into something genuinely beautiful, transcendent. Critics of maximalism call it just plain tacky. Take it as you please.
In music, you can imagine how the style translates into the aural medium. Electronic musicians are particularly given to experiment with maximalism because they can add a million pre-designed tracks without having to sweat over playing it live. On the other hand, Bellows forms itself as a traditional indie rock ensemble centered around live instrumentation. so what’s maximal here?
As far as I can tell, not a whole lot, but whatever. The band starts most songs off on a pretty standard foot with sweet hooks, melodies, and all the trimmings — then switch gears about 3/4 of the way through, over filling the composition with more tracks, more kinds of instruments, and sometimes sets the whole shebang at a wobbly, loping pace. Is the off tempo instrumentation an accident of recording, or intentional?
Hard to say — but the price is right (free), so head over to the Bellows’ Bandcamp and give it a spin for yourself. There are definitely some gems here, and the maximalist funkiness will give you something to chew over. Enjoy!
"Uh Oh!"
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"I Opened My Eyes"
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