Despite being together more than five years and receiving largely positive reviews, the Chicago-based rock quartet Maps & Atlases hasn’t lost its indie cred.

Before releasing its debut album __Perch Patchwork__ last year, Maps & Atlases only released two EPs (which are infinitely more hip than albums) in their existence. The change, though, has been welcomed for fans and the band.

Guitarist Erin Elders said the band was planning to make both EPs full-length albums, but eventually decided not to.

“They just kind of seemed to work as smaller pieces of music,” Elders said.

Although Elder points to the full-length album as a point of pride, he still sees room to grow.

“We’re always trying to evolve and examine what we did on the last record and how we can expand on certain ideas,” Elders said.

The band’s two EPs, __Tree, Swallow__, __Houses__ and __You and Me and the Mountain__, were hailed as math-rock masterpieces and earned Maps & Atlases a spot on tour with small label overachievers Portugal. The Man and The Fall of Troy, just to name a few.

__Perch Patchwork__ is more rock sounding than math-rock sounding, and tames a little of the band’s technical prowess. Elders said the band’s technical abilities started when they were young.

“All four of us kind of grew up playing music and music has been a large part of our lives for a very long time,” Elders said. “Early on, that was kind of the bonding point.”

Elders said some of his early inspirations were, surprisingly, free jazz and 1970s progressive rock. The cover art of __Perch Patchwork__ is a different inspiration entirely.

The cover of the album, as well as the cover of the upcoming single “Living Decorations”, was done by a Chicago artist named Ed Cardash. A friend of the band discovered Cardash’s work a couple years ago. After the artist died, Maps & Atlases paid homage to his work by putting it on its albums.

The band is letting its fans experiment with its music now as well. On the group’s website, fans can participate in a remix competition using stems from three of the songs off __Perch Patchwork__. Fans can then pick parts of each song they want to remix and submit them to the band. The winners of the competition will win themselves a boatload of merch, including shirts and music.

The result of this creative activity could be, not surprisingly, another EP. But that’s up in the air, Elders said.

“We don’t really know where we’re going with it yet,” Elders said with a laugh.

For now, Maps & Atlases will tour the States before a stop at South By Southwest and a tour in Japan. Touring overseas, Elders said, is always a little different.

“It’s a little bit more like a formal setting,” Elders said.

The group recently returned from a tour in Europe, where the group was building up its international presence. The group’s upcoming U.S. tour, which includes a show March 9 at Mojo’s, will be alongside Menomena.

“Here, it seems like a bunch of people hanging out, like band plus friends,” he said.