Fresh off a UK tour, veteran art-funk outfit Was (Not Was) is getting ready to traverse the US to support its first studio album in nearly 20 years.

The outing is set to get under way tonight (4/30) in Somerville, MA, and visit more than a dozen clubs and theaters from coast to coast through mid-May. The band will also drop by NBC-TV's "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" this Thursday (5/1). The tour itinerary is listed below.

Was (Not Was), which scored commercial success in the '80s with singles including "Walk the Dinosaur" and "Spy in the House of Love," took more than a decade off before re-emerging in 2004 with a best-of album and tour. The Detroit-bred group finally dropped its long-awaited new set, "Boo!" earlier this month. Several songs from the record are streaming at the Was (Not Was) MySpace page.

During their long break from the band, Don Was (Don Fagenson) and David Was (David Weiss) made successful careers for themselves in the production realm. Don produced Bonnie Raitt's Grammy-winning "Nick of Time" album and worked with Elton John, Kris Kristofferson, The B-52's and Brian Wilson, among others. David produced two soundtracks for "The X-Files" and scored two network dramas. Together, the pair produced the Grammy-winning Roy Orbison/kd lang duet "Crying," as well as Bob Dylan's "Under the Red Sky" album.

Childhood friends Fagenson and Weiss formed Was (Not Was) in 1979 as an outlet for their avant-garde mash-up of funk, rock, jazz and electronic dance music. They issued their self-titled debut in 1981, and followed it with 1983's "Born to Laugh at Tornadoes," which featured guest vocals from Mel Torme and Ozzy Osbourne.

The group won commercial success with 1988's "What Up, Dog," which was followed by 1990's "Are You Okay?" Was (Not Was) trekked across Europe with Dire Straits in 1992 before the members went their separate ways.