Smiley with a Knife is bracing for the release of their second album, Long Now, due out August 17, 2010. Long Now may not be a bubblegum chew of a listen, but perhaps you’ll tap your toes, clap your hands, bob and sometimes bang your head, dance with your broom, or your lover if you’re so fortunate, or simply lay on your bed and say “Ahhh…” What Long Now has in store for fans and newcomers is smoky steam ceilings, sucker punches, wild bull rides, cyclonic summersets, and moments for breath catching, screams, and whispers. Forget the monochromatic gray blob that casual listeners hear pushed from post-rock's loins. Toss the calculator required to decode the algebraic hieroglyphics of prog-rock's textbooks. Don’t look for the conventional Explosions in the Sky or Don Caballero -isms here. Smiley is not about twisting listeners’ ears into Eagle Scout caliber knots only to serve you more of the same. There is something for everybody in Smiley with a Knife's Long Now - even for those who may not fancy themselves contemporary instrumental rock enthusiasts. Since their first release in 2008, How A Reign Comes To An End, New Orleans’ instrumental rockers Smiley With A Knife have diligently defined the teeth of their knife blade – their sound. Smiley’s Reign combined the hook-soaked cascades of Justin Vicknair’s sonorous guitar, the serpentine electricity of Patrick Bailey’s tap-guitar, the bubbly loping of Michael Volpi’s bass glides, and the sly, classy hits and shimmers of Jared