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In almost every respect, the alexalone that made their poignant Polyvinyl debut, 2021’s ALEXALONEWORLD, is an altogether different band than the one that made their staggering follow-up, the new ALEXALONE TECHNICAL RESEARCH. During that deep pandemic daze, Alex Peterson recorded much of that first record themselves, accreting bass and guitar takes in homespun overdub sessions and collecting parts from friends. Those eight songs shaped a discursive ’90s journey, with Peterson moving among touchstones like Yo La Tengo, Hum, and Low, clutching those influences tightly as if to remain afloat amid a high tide of despair.

But by the time Peterson began writing TECHNICAL RESEARCH, alexalone seemed to be a stable quintet, a two- and sometimes three-guitar powerhouse with a clearer—and, frankly, more compelling—vision. Surrounded now by the collaborators who had contributed to that debut, Peterson let darkness and heaviness flood the tunes, the guitar tessellations and dynamo drums suddenly invoking Slint, Sonic Youth, and Boris in epics that may last for 13 minutes. They offset that formidable sound, though, not only with a melodic sweetness but also with a lyrical tenderness, Peterson trying to deal with this damaging world rather than simply succumb to it. Imagine looking skyward on a cloudy night and spotting just enough stars to know they’re still there: That is ALEXALONE TECHNICAL RESEARCH, a five-track album that trumpets the arrival of a mighty but vulnerable new rock band.

After first meeting on a whim over Facebook, what started out as a chance occurrence between drummer Paul DeMerritt-Verrone and singer/guitarist Nathan Springer (Narrator) sprouted into a continually exciting and unpredictable collaboration. The pair first started practicing and performing around Atlanta, GA in late 2014, and quickly started honing their penchant for dizzying song structures and erratic rhythms grounded in pop sensibilities. Their debut EP ‘woo’, recorded with bassist George Pettis (100 Watt Horse) and producer Graham Tavel, showcased floral print’s vibrant pastiche of psych-pop, early emo, ambient, and deconstructionist rock. Following ‘woo’, the duo (rounded out by a rotating cast of bassists) embarked on numerous tours throughout the East coast and Midwest, making friends and tightening up their sonic communication skills. In summer 2016, floral print linked up again with Tavel to start recording their debut full-length, entitled ‘mirror stages’, at Broad Street Visitor’s Center in Downtown Atlanta. The tracks on ‘mirror stages’ display a marked change in tone from ‘woo’, as glimmers of noise, distorted melancholy, and manic energy imbued their sound with more nuance and stylistic aberrations. Following the recording of ‘mirror stages’, floral print rounded out its lineup with the addition of Josh, Paris, and Lily as the band charts a new course for future tours and releases.”