Dillinger Escape Plan breaks out in early 2004

Indie rockers Dillinger Escape Plan get the New Year off to a busy start with a North American club tour.

The jaunt kicks off in mid-January, and dates run almost non-stop until early March. Tickets for a number of shows are currently on sale.

Dillinger Escape Plan's most-recent release, "Irony Is a Dead Scene," surfaced in August of 2002. The four-song EP features vocals from Mike Patton (ex-Faith No More,who gave the group a boost following the release of its 1999 debut, "Calculating Infinity," by inviting the band to open a tour for his quirky rock act, Mr. Bungle.

In September, a new Dillinger Escape Plan song titled "Baby's First Coffin" turned up on the soundtrack to the film "Underworld." The song is the group's first release to feature new permanent singer Greg Puciato, who in late 2001 replaced original singer Dimitri Minakakis.

The group has been working on its first Puciato-fronted album, which Relapse Records' website says is due out later this year. No title or release date has been announced.