Whatever happened to Billy Talent? The punky Canadian rockers seemed to be crawling all over the UK's music front-pages ten years ago, yet here we are in 2012, wondering where they've been and what they've been up to. Truth is, Billy Talent's talents haven't been hiding under a stone at all. After twenty years in rock, being absent from magazines is probably the last thing on their minds - the first thing is a new album. And then some serious kick of proverbial rear at this year's most prestigious of rock festivals.

The band formerly known as Pezz, were one of the first bands of their ilk to follow Green Day onto Warner's lucrative treadmill, issuing their debut album in 2003 and suddenly finding better alcohol on their riders. Packed full of racy little numbers such as "Try Honesty", "The Ex" and "Nothing to Lose", the self-titled virgin step into the arena was something of a triumph, if not exactly a massive hit over here. Canada has loved them ever since - kids over there can't get enough of Billy Talent, with the debut going platinum and the two subsequent albums, "II" and "III", both topping the Canadian charts. "III" was a considerable success across Europe and even scraped the Top 40 in the UK.

So while their picture may have been absent from mainstream press, they've actually slowly begun to conquer their own little world. A world which may be getting bigger by the year. And who would bet against their new album being called "IV"? It will be released later this year, after the new single "Viking Death March" has had its tenure.

2012 sees Billy Talent return to the UK and Ireland for a burst of shows in August, starting with some pre-festival headliners in London (16th), Edinburgh (20th) and Dublin (22nd), before they attempt to own Reading and Leeds during the August Bank Holiday. We have tickets for those headliners now, priced from £15.

If you still haven't been sweetened enough to buy your Reading or Leeds tickets, it might be an idea to get yourself sorted. Sunday with the Foo Fighters has sold out, so the only way to see them, The Cure (Friday) and Kasabian (Saturday) is grab a weekender for £197.50.