Box Elders is the brainchild of brothers Clayton and Jeremiah McIntyre, who began making music in Friday night goof-off sessions that originally featured their mom on drums. Adopting a name from the bugs that infested their house, they started gigging around Omaha, Nebraska, and soon added drummer Dave Goldberg, who signed on after catching the band at a free performance in a local park. Rather than search for a fourth band member, the McIntyres suggested Goldberg play both drums and organ simultaneously. It took some practice.
In January 2008, Box Elders released their debut 7-inch on Grotto Records and spent much of the year touring the USA. The fuzzy, off-kilter pop of the record caught the attention of Memphis, Tennessee's Goner Records and earned them a slot at the label's annual music festival, Goner Fest, as well as a spot on the Goner roster, alongside acts ranging from Guitar Wolf and Jay Reatard to Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Ty Segall, and Reigning Sound. As soon as they returned to Omaha, Box Elders began working on their first full-length, Alice and Friends, named after their favorite cult-run vegan Korean BBQ joint. Featuring fourteen tracks and cover art drawn by Michael Gruber, Alice and Friends is destined to be one of the most-talked about debuts of 2009.