The next chance to catch the band, who kicked things off May 1 in Ithaca, N.Y., is tonight at Knitting Factory in New York City.

Other hidey-holes on the band’s to-do list include Springwater in Atlanta (May 10), Tasty World in Athens, Ga. (May 13), The Circle Bar in New Orleans (May 15), Beauty Bar in Austin (May 18), The Waiting Room in Omaha, Neb. (May 22), 3 Kings in Denver (May 26), Sunset Tavern in Seattle (May 30), The Stork Club in Oakland, Calif. (June 3), Knitting Factory in Los Angeles (June 6), The Bottleneck in Lawrence, Kan. (June 11), Ronny’s in Chicago (June 14), Jigsaw in the band’s hometown (June 20).

Additional dates are expected and will be announced via the band’s MySpace page and at MrGnome.com.

Creature, due May 6, is the follow up to a pair of well-received and reviewed EPs, Echoes on the Ground and (mr. Gnome).

The album was written while guitarist/vocalist Nicole Barille and drummer Sam Meister completed four tours of the country after stashing their belongings in storage and literally living on the road.

The disc was recorded at Larry Crane’s Jackpot Studios (Elliot Smith, Cat Power, The Shins, The Decemberists) in Portland, Ore., and Craig Schumacher’s Wavelab Studios (Calexico, DeVotchKa, Neko Case, Animal Collective) in Tucson, Ariz., with additional production work at Ante Up Audio in Cleveland and Butch Vig’s Smart Studios in Madison, Wis.