As punk-rockers At the Drive-In continue to draw raves for last year's Relationship of Command album, frontman Cedric Bixler and guitarist Omar Rodriguez have already started work on a new offering from their dub-music side project, Defacto.

Bixler, Rodriguez and Defacto bandmates Ikey Owens and Jeremy Ward, brother of ATDI guitarist Jim Ward, have recorded material with Beastie Boys producer Mario Caldato Jr. for an album expected out later this year, a Grand Royal Records spokesperson said.

Defacto played several scattered California shows in December and January, and in March the band will head over to Europe for a three-week tour after ATDI complete their own European trek, scheduled to conclude on February 27 in Nottingham, England.

To coincide with the tour, Grand Royal will issue a European single from Defacto in March titled 456 132 015 and featuring several new tracks, including "120 E7" and "Vesica Pices." A U.S. release for the single is tentatively scheduled for April.

Based in Long Beach, California, Bixler and Rodriguez formed the electronica-based Defacto in 1997, releasing the one-off EP The Glove, which is being reissued on Restart Records, the indie label recently formed by Jim Ward and ATDI bassist Paul Himojos.

As for At the Drive-In, the group has settled on "Invalid Litter Dept." as the next single from Relationship of Command. The band recently shot a video for the track in Juarez, Mexico, with photographer Anton Corbijn directing.

At the Drive-In are currently on the road in Japan, and they'll head to Australia and New Zealand later this month to play the Big Day Out festival. The band plans to mount a headlining U.S. tour in April.