Alligator Online

There was a four-year gap between the release of New Order's "Get Ready" and "Waiting for the Sirens' Call" albums. My Bloody Valentine? We're still waiting for the follow-up to 1991's "Loveless," and probably will be forever.

Gainesville's Morningbell is about to buck the trend by releasing its second album in less than a year.

The band's debut full-length, "Learning by Musical Montage," arrived last December to critical acclaim. After an eventful year including a show with Robert Sledge, bassist for Ben Folds Five, an appearance on NPR and countless shows in Gainesville and around Florida, the band is about to cap it all with "Forgetting to Wake Up," due out Saturday.

Singer-guitarist Travis Atria, also the group's principal songwriter, said there's no secret to writing so many songs in a short space of time.

"It just happens," he said, shrugging.

The process certainly hasn't been forced or rushed; the group could afford the luxury of scrapping "maybe six or seven songs." There's no danger of any filler here.

The new album shows continued musical maturation from the band, who arrived in Gainesville playing Hendrix-style blues-rock, before progressing to Flaming Lips-esque psychedelic pop, which characterized its last record. Things have changed again.

"It's a lot more jazz-influenced," offered keyboardist Stacie Thrushman.

Fans can rest assured that a changing sound does not equate to a dip in quality, however.

As Atria said, "We're better at everything now. Playing, writing, even recording techniques. The whole thing fits together better."

To mark the occasion, the band is holding a CD-release party Saturday at the Atlantic, 15 N Main St., which Atria promises will be the biggest show they've ever done.

"We're pulling out all the stops," Atria said. "We're pulling out stops that haven't even been invented yet."

The show presents an extra challenge for the band as it will only be its second with new drummer Evan Mitchell, although they have been practicing hard to get him up to speed and are evidently ready and excited about the show.

Clearly, the band isn't about to rest on its laurels.

They've already started thinking about album number three, said bassist Eric Atria, Travis's brother.

"Right before we finished this one, this idea struck Travis and we all just sat in the living room and talked about it, and we all got excited about it," he said. "It's under wraps though, hush-hush."