Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies isn't the usual fare you'll find playing at Indian Ranch, but bassist Jim Creeggan says he's had a good time playing there in the past.

"I love playing outside," he says of the venue,where the band will be returning at 2 p.m. July 20, "especially this little place�We went swimming afterward, it was awesome. We try to make all our gigs like summer camp."

He laughs, and explains that the original members of the band � himself, his brother Andy Creeggan, who played percussion, vocalist-guitarist Ed Robertson and vocalist Steven Page � all met at Scarborough Music Camp in Manitoulin, Ontario, Canada.

The indie band took off in the '90s with such upbeat and catchy alt.-rock songs as "One Week," "Another Postcard," "Be My Yoko Ono" and "If I Had $1,000,000," as well as the theme song to the sit-com "The Big Bang Theory."

Page and Andy Creeggan have since left the band, replaced by keyboardist-vocalist Kevin Hearn and drummer Tyler Stewart, but Barenaked Ladies has continued on unabated, touring constantly and releasing new material, including last year's "Grinning Streak," which was recently re-released in a deluxe addition including acoustic renditions of some of their songs.

"It's one of my favorites," says Creeggan, of the new album, "I think you can tell from the first track, 'Limits,'" which couches BNL's bright-sounding vocals and upbeat instrumentation in moody electronic riffs. "We really went for it�'Limits' was a great exploration for us. It's Kevin at his finest. He really dove into the electronics and synthesizer. After the bridge he started playing some honky-tonk piano. It's the unlikely marriage of electronics with Doctor John. We had a lot of fun."

While "Grinning Streak" has a lot of the band's hallmark vibrancy and sense of whimsy � particularly on the album's big singles, "Boomerang" and "Odds Are" � there are some darker touches, too, particularly on songs such as "Daydreamin'" and "Off His Head."

"It's kind of funny," says Creeggan, "but I think we've always led with our fun songs, but on every record there's one you can find � 'The Flag' on 'Gordon,' or 'Everything Old is New Again' on 'Maybe You Should Drive' � that's more melancholy. The melancholy has always been there, it's just not something we lead with, but we turn to those songs as sort of an emotional core."

But make no mistake: He still loves playing the songs that made the band famous, such as "One Week."

"When I look out in the crowd," he says, of playing one of BNL's hits, "it kind of belongs to them. Everyone at our shows have memories that are connected to those songs."

You would think that would be enough to keep anyone busy, but when he's not touring or recording with BNL, Creeggan often reunites with his brother, Andy, to perform as The Creeggan Brothers.

"We've just been doing gigs," he says, when asked if the duo has anything planned. "We have songs in the bag. We did a full symphony show with Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony in Southern Ontario�It was a great show. I'd like to do more of those. Maybe we could do the Boston Pops?"

As to the Indian Ranch show, Creeggan isn't daunted by a stage that usually hosts country and classic rock acts.

"We're like a living room suburban band," he says of the incongruity, and why it's not as offbeat a combination as it sounds on the surface. "Our roots started with playing acoustically. I play double bass�Ed's roots are kind of southern-country-alternative rock."

And if nothing else, Creeggan laughs and offers a backup plan.

"Meet us in the lake at Indian Ranch to go for a swim."

Email Victor D. Infante at Victor.Infante@Telegram.com, and follow him on Twitter @ocvictor.