Tremendous, incandescent British rock is probably the last thing to expect out of South Los Angeles, so it's a revelation to hear the chiming guitars and swooning vocals of The Tender Box's collection of new songs. The band--Joey Medina (vocals, guitar), Ric Moon (guitar), Steve Mungarro (bass, vocals) and Chuck Gil (drums)—have just released EP 1, their new five-song release to advance their untitled second album to come later this fall.

Originally inspired by the post-punk and synth-pop groups of the 1980s, The Tender Box has expanded on their sound as revealed on their 2007 debut album The Score. Two years full of hard touring, love, loss, soul searching and revelation have resulted in the five new songs featured on EP 1. Produced by Warren Huart (The Fray, Augustana) and Jay Ruston (The Donnas, Morrissey), the forthcoming release will boast tracks like "Incomplete Design" and "Gravity," which reach for grand, lush spaces melodically and lyrically, while others tracks like "Another Lover" and "Beautiful Sin" keep with the original feeling of British-influenced dark and danceable songs.

The Tender Box is the brainchild of four childhood friends from the predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood of South Gate. After getting the right batch of songs together, the band hit the club circuit across the west coast.

Already a Hollywood favorite, The Tender Box have headlined such hipster hot spots as Club Moscow and Hang The DJs, been praised by L.A.'s DJ Rodney Bingenheimer on his "Rodney On The 'Roq" radio show, been frequently spun on the now-defunct Indie 103.1 and Sirius Radio and have even landed a primo licensing spot on a Canadian Chevy commercial which featured their song "Mister Sister" from The Score. Also from their previous album, "Havoc" is now heard in a Budweiser commercial and will appear on the soon to be released Shaun White's Snow 2 video game for Wii.

www.myspace.com/tenderbox