Alien Ant Farm ready to return to the road

Alien Ant Farm, which canceled most of its 2002 tour plans after a deadly bus accident killed the group's driver and left frontman Dryden Mitchell with a broken spine, is getting back on the horse this summer.

The group will pave the way for the Aug. 19 release of its sophomore album, "truANT," with a month-long U.S. club tour that kicks off on July 5 in Las Vegas.

"truANT" is the follow-up to Alien Ant Farm's 2001 debut, "ANThology." Brother duo Dean and Robert DeLeo--who, respectively, are the guitarist and bassist for Stone Temple Pilots--produced the new set, the first single from which is titled "These Days."

In late May of last year, Alien Ant farm was traveling in Spain when its bus collided with a truck. The accident killed the bus driver, and left all of the band members injured. Mitchell, who was the most seriously injured member of the quartet, suffered a broken C2 vertebra. He has since undergone surgery and completed a lengthy rehabilitation process.

The accident cut short the group's European outing behind "ANThology," an album that launched the group into the spotlight thanks to the success of novelty cut "Smooth Criminal," a cover of the Michael Jackson original. The track earned the group a Best Hard Rock Performance GRAMMY® nomination.