Dears Finish Album, Announce Details

Just in time for their appearance at Coachella this Sunday, my favorite live band of 2005, The Dears, have announced details of their just-completed new album, Gang of Losers. According to a post on the band's MySpace blog by frontman Murray Lightburn, the album was recorded this winter in Montreal at Parc X home Lightburn shares with keyboardist Natalia Yanchack and their new daughter Neptune, and mixed and mastered in New York City in March.

Lightburn says Gang of Losers is "a somewhat stripped-down, raw affair," which would be in stark contrast from the bombast of its predecessor, 2003's No Cities Left. "As clich as this may sound, it's by far the 'best work we've ever done.' But seriously, it doesn't sound like anything else and it's pretty relentless," he adds.

The album title was also the working title for a song, now called "You and I Are a Gang of Losers," that the Dears have been playing live since early 2005 and has become a highlight of their shows. Clocking in at a reasonably compact 48 minutes, the tracklist is as follows:

01. Sinthtro
02. Ticket to Immortality
03. Death or Life We Want You
04. Hate Then Love
05. There Goes My Outfit
06. Bandwagoneers
07. Fear Made the World Go 'Round
08. You and I Are a Gang Of Losers
09. Whites Only Party
10. Ballad of Humankindness
11. I Fell Deep
12. Find Our Way to Freedom

Look for Gang of Losers to drop in August, with a single -- most likely the title-track -- preceding it in June. Until then, the band have put "Fear Made the World Go Round" available to listen to on their MySpace page.  Lightburn sounds decidedly less like Damon or the Moz this time around.

Comments

[kenny]

the only track i have is There Goes My Outfit and if the rest of the album is as good that then it could be album of the year.

[d]

you & I are a gang of losers was always my favorite when I saw the dears live. they do a great version on kcrw but I think it only appears on the show's video link.

[Matt Berlyant]

1994? Wow I didn't realize they've been around for so long. :-) Seriously No Cities Left came out in 2004 in the U.S. and the UK but 2003 in Canada.

[bill p]

d'oh! what is with me and the 1990s? i said 1994 and then later 1995. good catch, thanks.