Billy Talent: Red Flag

Thirteen years into their career, Canadian punk-rockers Billy Talent are finally getting the attention they deserve. Recent London shows, including packed-out headline slots at the Astoria and the Hammersmith Palais, showed that kids have at last cottoned on to the band’s winning combination of hyperactive pop, relentless energy and amiability.

No doubt their individual epiphanies were aided by this track - a short, sharp shock of a rock anthem that will see clubbers and gig-goers across the land punching the air in shows of enthusiastic defiance.

Bolstered by a heavier guitar sound and tighter song writing, ‘Red Flag’ could be taken as the statement of intent for Billy Talent’s recent second album, an explosive and accomplished effort that’s slowly but surely propelling the foursome to dizzying heights.