by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
It’s been five long years since Atlanta’s floral print released their self-titled EP, but the band are set to make their return with their sprawling new album, floral print’s guide to practical living and magical thinking. Due out on May 17th via the trifecta of Rope Bridge Records, Bee Side Cassettes, and Pleasure Tapes, the band are making up for lost time with a swirling mix of ever expanding ideas, structures, and experimental pop songs that really knows no bounds. floral print are mixing heart on sleeve emo, art rock, post-hardcore, shoegaze, and fuzzy lo-fi pop together into something that’s clearly pulling at all ends of the spectrum, nothing is off limit and yet there’s a sense of cohesion throughout the album, if somewhat splintered at times. Any fracturing of the overall sound is intentional, a product of the album’s recording sessions which began with the duo of Nathan Springer and Clover joined by the project’s original bassist, Josh Pittman on side A, and a collaboration with guitarist/bassist Paris Watel-Young, comprising side B. The result is a chance for floral print to show their many sides, to throw it all at the wall and see what sticks.
“ecco/flipper,” the record’s lead single is taken from the front half of the album, a side that took shape prior to the pandemic, a song that feels both fluid and serrated. Tangled and manipulated in time and tempo, the song weaves a path less circular than it is freeform, with distorted pop verses that shimmer as they crackle beneath the surfaces. There’s an amorphous spirit to the was “ecco/flipper” unfolds, hinting at a degree of improvisation in structure, sure footing on shaky ground. Then it smooths, the melodies become syrupy and sharp, creating a false sense of ease that’s radiant at the core of floral print’s sound.