The Mighty Mighty Bosstones have just completed work on the follow-up to their 1997 breakthrough, "Let's Face It," and may preview a few new tracks at their annual homecoming shows next month.

The Bosstones' Sixth Annual Hometown Throwdown is slated for December 8-12 at the Middle East Club in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and will feature a rotating cast of opening acts, including Hobex, Shades Apart, Drexel, the Pilfers, and Reach the Sky, amongst others.

Songs recorded at the group's 1997 Throwdown shows were collected for last year's "Live From The Middle East" concert LP.

The plaid ska-sters have been working on their new album since the spring, halting the sessions in May so they could to open a few shows for the Offspring (see "Mighty Mighty Bosstones Join Offspring Tour").

The Bosstones balked at re-teaming with the punk rockers for a full-blown summer tour in order to return to a studio in North Brookfield, Massachusetts with producers Sean Slade and Paul Kolderie and finish the new record.

A spokesperson for the band's label, Mercury Records, said that the new Bosstones album was tentatively due out in spring 2000.

Bosstones' frontman Dicky Barrett took a turn on the small screen earlier this month, portraying seminal rock star Bill Haley in the CBS miniseries "Shake, Rattle & Roll."