by LORRAINE CARPENTER

Having survived indie rock’s millennial slump, the Fearless Freep rise up with their third album, Go Cry. Sporting a downtrodden superhero on its cover, the disc is tongue-in-cheek on the outside, tender on the inside, a solid set of slow-burning anthems to thoughtfully rock out to. Apart from infiltrating the soundtrack of TV’s 24 ("cha-ching!") and pure, stubborn perseverance, the band attribute their survival to the network of fans generated by LaurenHill Academy, where singer Robert John Stephens teaches English, drama and morals. The Mirror spoke to Mr. Stephens and drummer Craig Silverman about role-modelling, the fake Freep and playing the school talent show.

Mirror: Does the Fearless Freep offer a positive moral compass to LaurenHill students?

Craig Silverman: It’s hard to say ’cause we’re pretty different. I drink and smoke and run a pseudo-adult magazine [Montreal Confidential] and Rob’s complete straight-edge.

Robert John Stephens: He’s a budding porn magnate and I’m a high school teacher - it’s perfect!

M: Uh, okay. And it was an ex-student who designed your album sleeve?

CS: He did a great job.

RJS: His name is Efraim Siounis, we totally exploited him. But it stemmed from an idea Craig had about this guy who pretends to be a superhero to get people to love him. This whole town worships him, but one day a real disaster comes along and he can’t do anything, so the town burns. Everybody’s just waiting patiently, saying, "Don’t worry, the Fearless Freep will save us," but it never happens.

CS: The origin of the name is a Looney Tunes character you never actually see. But if we get big, we’ll probably get sued by Warner anyway.

RJS: There’s also a death-metal band in the Philippines with the same name.

M: And a furry fantasy character on some creepy Web site. But anyway, tell me about the talent show.

CS: I’m gonna be kicking some beats for the kids to rhyme over.

RJS: There’s a lot of hip hop kids and we’re convincing some of them not to use [Eminem’s] "Lose Yourself" - that gets kinda boring - so Craig and Jeff [Louch, bassist] will back them up. We’re gonna play four songs and there’s a girl punk band called Probed. I might play drums for them.

CS: Maybe I can do an interpretive dance.

RJS: I keep joking with these kids that I’m gonna take them under my wing, record their demo and take 50 per cent of everything they make. They’re like, "But we don’t know how to play properly," and I say, "Don’t worry, just pose for the album covers."

M: As seen on TV. Speaking of which, I assume you’re joking in the bio about being related to Kiefer Sutherland.

RJS: I have a great grandmother whose name is Sutherland, so I’m guessing we’re all from the same clan back in Scotland. I mean, we’re all related to the same monkey a million years ago, but I’m pretty sure I’m related to Kiefer. :

With Paul Cargnello at the Jupiter Room on Saturday, March 8, 9:30pm, $5. The LaurenHill Academy talent show is tentatively set for March 21

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