After debuting their video for "So Sad To Say" at a Boston Red Sox home game last week, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones are preparing for next month's release of "Pay Attention," the band's follow-up to its 1997 platinum breakthrough, "Let's Face It."

The "Pay Attention" LP and the Bosstones' upcoming stint on the Warped Tour mark the closing of one chapter in the band's history and the opening of another, as original guitarist Nate Albert opted to leave the group after completing work on the record.

Even though he's gone, Albert will certainly not be forgotten when fans hear the new album, as many of the tracks on "Pay Attention" are built around Albert's driving guitar riffs.

"['Pay Attention'] is guitar-heavy for one simple reason," explained Bosstones frontman Dicky Barrett.

"Nate wrote the book for ska-core, metal-meets-ska, punk rock-meets-ska music. Nate is the definition of that. [He's] one of my closest friends, and I love him so much. I truly do." [RealVideo]

After finishing "Pay Attention," Barrett told MTV News that auditioning new guitarists to replace Albert, who left to pursue a degree at Brown University, was a grueling experience, and he's confident in the newly drafted Bosstone, Lawrence Katz.

"That was nearly impossible," Barrett said of the guitarist search. "I mean, think about trying to replace a family member. We didn't look forward to it, we didn't enjoy the process, although we met a lot of really, really talented guitar players.

"But the search was exasperating, exhausting, tedious, and tough to do. We were emotional during the process. It was sad, not just for the Bosstones as they exist now, but for Nate as well. It was a hard thing to do." [RealVideo]

The Bosstones will break in their new guitarist during a few radio festival shows in the next few weeks, including the WBCN River Rave on May 27 at Foxboro Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, where the band will play alongside Stone Temple Pilots, Static-X, Cypress Hill, Filter, Powerman 5000, and Godsmack.

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones will then to head to Europe from May 31 until June 15 before helping launch this year's Warped Tour on June 23 in Fresno, California.