Los Angeles based rock act the Soft Pack has signed Kemado Records, Billboard.com can reveal.

The band previously known as the Muslims was heavily courted by labels after last year's CMJ Festival, eventually choosing New York-based Kemado, which had been in discussions with the band prior to October.

"We just like those guys a lot and felt like we had the same view of things, the same perspective," guitarist Matty McLoughlin tells Billboard.com.

In between heavy bouts of touring this spring, the Soft Pack will record its debut album, which it hopes will be out by the end of the year. "Right now, we're writing new songs and demos," McLoughlin says. "We've been writing and working pretty hard when we haven't been touring. And it's an incentive to get more work done."

The band, whose fast, guitar-driven sound recalls the Strokes and Franz Ferdinand, didn't even solidify its lineup until about a year ago. "It wasn't really a band prior to 2008. It was just whoever we could scrounge up and play shows with," McLoughlin explains.   

Before the album, the Soft Pack plan to release songs via 7-inch vinyl singles on Kemado. Opening slots for the Raveonettes and the Black Lips are scheduled, along with appearances at South by Southwest and All Tomorrow's Parties in the United Kingdom.