Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready revealed yesterday that the band has begun work on the follow-up to 2006's self-titled album.

McCready said, "We are working on a new record right now, so we are in the process of writing a bunch of new songs, and we have our producer Brendan O'Brien - who worked on some of our earlier records - Vs. and Vitalogy. He is back with us right now so we are working on songs with him. We will try to do a record sometime this year, but that's about all we got. We've got about four or five tunes ready to go right now. They are just in the early phases." McCready wouldn't commit to when we'd hear a new Pearl Jam record, just that "We won't give you a Chinese Democracy."

Pearl Jam will kick off a short tour in West Palm Beach, FL on June 11. The trek, which includes a set at Bonnaroo, wraps up with two nights in Mansfield, MA on June 28 and 30.