The eclectic British roots-rock band Gomez [ tickets ], which played an abbreviated tour of five U.S. cities last fall, will return to North America for a month-long tour in February.

The tour opens Feb. 18 in San Francisco, and includes an opening slot for Ben Harper [ tickets ] and the Innocent Criminals at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles. Gomez is also scheduled to play at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas on March 16.

In September, Gomez released its sophomore album ''Liquid Skin'' (Virgin) to a chorus of critical raves, but the album failed to chart in the United States. The album features such unusual touches as vocals sung through a toilet paper roll, use of an underwater microphone, percussion on a fire extinguisher, and the patching of a drum machine through a tiny guitar amp.

''Bring It On,'' the band's 1998 debut album, earned it the UK's prestigious Mercury Music Prize for 1998 Album Of The Year.