After more than a year of non-stop touring, the Canadian all-female metal quartet Kittie [ tickets ] is looking forward to a restful 2001--but only after a month-long, co-headlining jaunt on the SnoCore Rock tour.

"I think we're gonna take a bit of time off," said vocalist/guitarist Morgan Lander. "We've pretty much been on a tight touring schedule all of the year 2000. For 2001, I think we'll wind down for a bit [and] just to start to focus a bit more on what we want to do for the next album. We'll play a few shows here and there, perhaps debut some of our new songs and what-not."

"New songs" will be key to Kittie's break. The band, which recently released the live EP "Paperdoll," will begin laying the framework for the follow-up to its gold-selling debut album, "Spit."

"We're slowly but surely getting started. We're not trying to rush things," said Lander, who is joined in Kittie by her sister, drummer Mercedes, guitarist-vocalist Fallon Bowman and bassist Talena Atfield.

"We don't want to put s---t out. I think it's important to do everything at our own pace, comfortably, just see what comes out--not really rush things. That's always the pits, to try to put the thing out every year. ... We've got a couple of ideas going but nothing too serious."

In other words, don't expect new material at SnoCore Rock. Kittie is sharing headlining duties with Fear Factory on SnoCore Rock, which begins Jan. 19 in Las Vegas. The Union Underground, Slaves on Dope and Boy Hits Car are also on the bill.

Lander's banshee-like wails, accompanied by Bowman's spitfire, bass vocals, were the stars of last year's Ozzfest, a tour that helped Kittie considerably.

"I think there's been such a crescendo of totally amazing things," Lander explained. "It started with the release of our album, obviously. It kind of peaked at Ozzfest, I would definitely have to say, just because of the magnitude of the traveling circus that is Ozzfest, and [we were] getting to play with some amazing bands who have had extensive careers. ... With Ozzfest, no one's really there to judge. They're just there to go with a whole slew of different kinds of bands. ... It's all metal, and they're all happy about it."

Lander described life on the road as a "love-hate relationship."

"When you're on the road, you're like, 'I can't wait to get home,'" she said. "Two days later, when you're home, you're like, 'I can't wait to get back out on the road.'"

SnoCore Rock is one of the SnoCore franchise's two simultaneous tours. The SnoCore Icicle Ball hits primarily theaters beginning Jan. 17, and is co-headlined by the New Orleans funk/jazz band Galactic and Les Claypool's Frog Brigade. They're joined by Lake Trout (through Feb. 4) and Drums and Tuba (from Feb. 5).

In its previous five years, SnoCore had been one tour. The double helix of a tour, explained SnoCore co-founder John Boyle, was a way of expanding the franchise without losing "our emerging artist vibe."

"We didn't want to grow into venues that were no longer intimate. ... In years past, we would mix up genres and kind of bring a bunch of different flavors under one roof. Last year, we went with a straight-ahead rock tour and that went really great. So we decided to do another straight-ahead, genre-specific tour, and put subtitles underneath SnoCore, and grow the company..."

He explained that adding jam bands to SnoCore was a natural progression.

"I think if you go back to where SnoCore originated, it originated as a snowboarding lifestyle tour that only went to resort towns. We've outgrown resort towns in the last five or six years. Most resort towns might be able to accommodate a 500-seater, but they certainly can't accommodate a 3,000- or 4,000-seat [theater] like we do. In considering where we came from, the jam band scene is very strong in mountain resort towns. It's also very strong in the Midwest and the Northeast, and in secondaries (smaller markets), and in college towns. It just seemed to fit."

Although SnoCore is big on promoting the winter lifestyle, athletes will not appear on most of the dates, according to Boyle, who manages the tour's Boy Hits Car as well as newcomers Alien Ant Farm.

"We've had athletes make appearances on some shows in years' past. When the Icicle Ball stops in Vail (Colo.), we'll probably have some athletes there. We may have some in L.A. and New York."