North Carolina progressive alt. rock outfit Archers Of Loaf kicked of a U.S. tour last week that may very well be their last... or not.

The band is making the rounds to drum up support for its new album, "White Trash Heroes," and is giving some serious thought to hanging it up. The group, which formed seven years ago and has now released seven albums, says that its decision will hang largely on how this tour goes.

"I'd say 90 percent of it depends, 80 percent of it depends on that," vocalist/guitarist Eric Bachmann told MTV News last week when the band rolled into New York for the fourth date of their tour.

"We knew when we set out before our first show that we wouldn't be doing this for the rest of our lives," bassist Matt Gentling added. "It's just sort of at a point where we're not contributing quite at the level we were, and we don't want to waste our time and we don't want to waste anyone else's time."

While life on the road can be occasionally stale, the band says that the time spent in the studio working on "White Trash Heroes" was invigorating.

"I enjoyed it," guitarist Eric Johnson said of the band's most recent studio project. "To me, it was the most fun the band has had since recording the last time. Although that's not to say that touring is some kind of torture, because it's not. It's just not as fun as it ought to be."

That may be changing though. While the tour is still just a few dates along, the band seems to be happy with the way things are going so far.

"It's fun," Bachmann said. "We're two for three, two good shows and one bad one."

If you want to see the band and try to talk them out of retiring, here's where you can find them:

  • 10/7 - Albany, NY @ Valentine's
  • 10/8 - Burlington, VT @ Club Toast
  • 10/9 - Montreal, QC @ Cabaret Music Hall
  • 10/10 - Toronto, ON @ Lee's Palace
  • 10/11 - London, ON @ Embassy
  • 10/13 - Columbus, OH @ Little Brother's
  • 10/14 - Cleveland, OH @ Euclid Tavern
  • 10/15 - Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
  • 10/16 - Cincinnati, OH @ Annie's
  • 10/17 - Chicago, IL @ Metro
  • 10/18 - Champaign, IL @ Mabel's
  • 10/20 - St. Louis, MO @ Side Door
  • 10/22 - Iowa City, IA @ Gabe's Oasis
  • 10/23 - Madison, WI @ University Of Wisconsin
  • 10/24 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
  • 11/2 - Seattle, WA @ Show Box