AUSTIN, Texas -- They have yet to come up with a clever name for them (Gomezheads?), but British rockers Gomez have been noticing an assemblage of American fans following them from show to show.

"That's unbelievable, and it's a culture we don't have in the U.K.," singer/guitarist Tom Gray said recently. "You couldn't drive for 10 hours and stay in the U.K., for one, but it's a different thing. U.K. music seems more fashionable, maybe more zeitgeist. Over here the people care a bit more about seeing a band they think are good live, whereas in the U.K. it tends to be, 'Have you got a song on the radio?' -- that kind of thing, which I don't mind either. It's always changing in the U.K., and it's really kind of a live living scene, but we couldn't live without the people in America who just keep coming and seeing us play."

And for that reason, Gomez are celebrating Tuesday's release of their fifth studio album, How We Operate, with a U.S. tour.

The band played South by Southwest in March, and Gray and fellow singers Ben Ottewell and Ian Ball did an acoustic-trio trek for a few weeks afterward (see [article id="1527081"]"Surprise Guests Franz Ferdinand Steal 'Sounds Eclectic' Show"[/article]), but this will be the first time Gomez showcase the songs as they are heard on the record. And, knowing Gomez's jam-band-like tendencies, it's probably the last.

"They'll be so completely different a year from now, you won't even recognize them," Gray said. "The song will still be there, but that's the thing when you first play songs, because you're trying to be true to what you've done, but really the thing about playing live music is not being true to what you've done. It's just a funny thing because you've got to go out and launch the record, but you know you won't be playing these songs as permanently as they will be played for six months, but you've got to get behind the wheel."

And Gomez are happy to be driving How We Operate. In fact, Gray said it's the first time in a while the entire band has felt excited to take an album out on the road.

"I just think it's the strongest album we've ever had in terms of every single song being of value," he explained. "Anyone who knows Gomez reasonably well knows that we never do the same thing twice in the same place, so it's a really varied record, but as a whole, it's the one album we've made that really feels like one record. It feels like it has its own nervous system, which is a really big step for us, because usually our records are all over the place."

Gomez credit that "integrity," as Ottewell called it, to working with Gil Norton (the Pixies, Foo Fighters), which marked the first time the band put a producer in charge. Gomez had just signed to a new label and felt ready for a change.

"The pure novelty of it was appealing," Ottewell said. "And we've never been too precious, we do so much collaboration within the band, it was just like having another guy with an opinion."

A strong opinion.

"He laid down the law," Gray added. "He was like, 'We have to make this kind of a Gomez record -- are you in or are you out? The songs are gonna be about the vocals and the harmonies.' And he never swayed away from that line. ... He kept stopping us from throwing in all the whistles and bells, as he would always call it."

How We Operate is named after the first single, a song Ottewell said is about an argument and a compromise.

"That sounded cool [as a title], 'cause all the songs are about relationships, the way people work together and fight together, love together and so how we operate together," he added.

"The whole album has a sort of narrative style," added Gray, who just directed the "How We Operate" video as one continuous shot in the band's rehearsal space. "All the songs are very much about a situation or a moment in somebody's life and how we operate. It couldn't be a more poignant name for the record."

After Gomez cross the States in May, the band will return to the U.K. for a few weeks and then return to America in mid-June for a trek that will include the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee.

Gomez tour dates, according to ATO Records: