[9][10] The initial recording sessions were in January 2019 with no plans to release any material and the band followed this with a single and tour that encouraged them to return in early 2020.

X approached artist Wayne White about working on the album's art due to vocalist Exene Cervenka and bassist John Doe both being fans of his.

[7] The album was initially released on vinyl via Fat Possum and via the digital platform Bandcamp, with a more comprehensive rollout to other formats to follow later in the year.

[1] Writing for Variety, Chris Morris called the title track a quintessential X song with "metaphorical perfection" that meets the expectations of X fans who had hoped the band would release new material since they re-formed.

[33] American Songwriter's Hal Horowitz gave the album 4.5 out of five stars, calling the release strategy a "refreshingly punk move", with each band member having superlative contributions to the recording, and sums up that it is "not just an impressive, even unprecedented comeback, but one that resonates with the vitality and dizzying power of X’s finest music".

[30] The editorial staff of AllMusic gave the release four out of five stars, with reviewer Mark Deming finding all of the songs high quality and summing up Alphabetland as "a nearly miraculous example of a band returning to the studio after a long layoff and delivering at full strength".

[29] Guy Oddy of The Arts Desk gave the release four out of five stars, calling it "no lame, end of career cash-in" and hoping for more music.

[27] Dan DeLuca of The Philadelphia Inquirer specifically noted Bonebrake and Zoom's contributions to the music, calling their work "a rip-roaring spirit" that makes for a "vital" album.

[28] Ken Tucker of Fresh Air calls the album "the sound of X snatching back its past in order to fuel the music of its future" that "doesn't have a trace of nostalgia or a slackening of intensity".

[36] Korey Grow of Rolling Stone claimed that the album has lived up to the hype of X's reputation, calling it "a rare animal among comeback records—it both feels like a continuance of the band’s classic Eighties sound and it’s actually good".

[5] In Newsweek, David Chu called the release a spectacular return to form[6] and Collin Estes of the Colorado Springs Indy emphasized the band's punk rock roots and clever songwriting coming through on this album.

[39] Writing for Shepherd Express, Paul McComas wrote an extensive positive review that also serves as an overview of the entire band's career and the strengths of each individual member.