“We’re totally a bunch of ding dongs,” says The Dears’ Natalia Yanchak. “We don’t really fit in. We’re not cool. We don’t do coke all the time. That’s not what we’re about.”

The Dears’ keyboardist and wife of frontman Murray Lightburn is explaining how ostracization became the theme of the band’s latest release, Gang of Losers. She says that while their 2004 album, No Cities Left, was about being lost, this album is about rediscovery. “But still acknowledging your past and being alone,” she adds. The songs were also a response to what she sees as the current indie climate of people trying too hard to be cool.

“I think a lot of indie rock music, journalism and a lot of bands are really focussed on image and being the coolest thing. You have to be totally extreme and in your face and totally cool all the time. I think Gang of Losers is totally the opposite of that,” says Yanchak.

“Where I see it the most is in indie rock journalism. It’s cool to exclude people so flippantly without thinking how you might be affecting the people around you. That attitude resonates beyond a review. It’s not just in journalism. Everyone’s a player: Everyone is hating on everybody else and that gives you an identity. But, it is a really sad identity to exclude other people. I think that’s where Gang of Losers [fits in], it’s like this gang coming together of people who have been excluded.”

Despite this and Yanchak’s insistence that the Canadian six-piece remains uncool, their mounting success seems to suggest that they could be making the cross-over to the cool realm regardless of their resistance. The Montreal based band – made up of Yanchak, Lightburn, bassist Martin Pelland, keyboardist Valérie Jodoin-Keaton, drummer George Donoso III, and guitarist Patrick Krief - have been on the rise ever since they formed in 1995. In December last year, they were guests on the David Letterman Show where they played Hate Then Love. It’s a gig that Yanchak rates as one of her highlights in the last few years. That and playing as the support act for The Smiths’ former frontman, Morrissey.

The band have also been on a crazy touring schedule which has seen them play the major festivals all around the world. They played the Roskilde Festival in Denmark last year and plan to head to South by South West after they tour Australia in March. “It’s weird because we are a little bit out of our element outside the club on an open stage. But it’s always way more fun because there might be a lot of people there that have never seen you before. That’s pretty cool,” she says. “When you are at a festival there is so much going on. It’s just like a sensory overload sometimes.”

With such an intense touring schedule, you would think that the band would be sick of each other already. It’s not the case. On the contrary, it seems like the band has become quite incestuous. “I always like to describe us like we are all brothers and sisters,” Yanchak explains. “In the same way that brothers and sisters are similar and so totally different at the same time. Sometimes we can get totally annoyed at each other and pissed off. But at the end of the day we get over it and we all respect each other in a pretty huge way. That’s really important. Me and Murray are married and Martin and Valerie got married; There’s really a couple vibe. George and Krief are the lonely hearts. We like to keep it in the family.”

So do you have any plans to hook them up?

“We’ve been trying. It’s hard, do you know anybody?”

Ladies, the invitation is open. Make sure you catch them at one of these gigs while they are here:

March 4: Club Capitol, Perth
March 6: The Columbian, Brisbane
March 7: Prince of Wales, Melbourne
March 10: Home, Sydney
March 11: Playground Weekender

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