Serene but not simplistic

The chemical composition of an indie-pop darling? Try two parts classical influence, one part inaccessibility, a handful of retro-framed eyeglasses, and an aversion to traditional verse/chorus structure. Soulful meditation helps. So does a sense of levity. And if you're on a hot label, you'd better be polished, fast, and unabashedly smart.

Fortunately for the precocious boys (and girl) of the Most Serene Republic, talent is a foregone conclusion, and success -- if the critical reception thus far is any indication -- isn't far behind. Promptly scooped up last year by kingmakers Arts and Crafts, based in Mississauga, Ontario, Serene Republic banded together in May to produce their freshman effort, ''Underwater Cinematographer." They've been touring since -- all frizzy hair, thick glasses, and glorified nerdhood. Their sound is an amalgamation of indie-pop elements: textured blasts of Postal Service-esque confection, and complex vocal and instrumental layering.

And they're barely out of high school.

''People are always wondering where you're coming from," keyboardist Ryan Lenssen said last week by phone from the band's tour bus. ''And this is it, for me: Stravinsky, Brahms. Brubeck. Structural form, counterpoint techniques and arranging, it's all there."

Lenssen, 20, who spent time studying at Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music, speaks for a band that has no interest in being compared to other up-and-coming rockers. Serene Republic's music, after all, is not simplistic, and neither is its musical approach. Lenssen uses his classical background to spin a refined complexity into the music, while frontman Adrian Jewett is poetic in his delivery. ''We pass over cities and towns, collapsed, in the hopes that people find amusement amongst the depressed," he sings on ''Content Was Always My Favorite Color." The track names on ''Underwater Cinematographer" are baroque: ''The Protagonist Suddenly Realizes What He Must Do in the Middle of Downtown Traffic" is sharp, knowing; ''You're a Loose Cannon McArthur . . . But You Get the Job Done" is contrite.

''We like being independent," Lenssen said. ''But you do get to a point where you're asking: Is this important to people? Am I doing something that is affecting people's lives?"

It's a question Serene Republic is in the process of answering. Media attention after the release of ''Underwater Cinematographer" was fast, sometimes furious. ''Pretentious," one website railed. ''Pompous," another added. But mostly the response has been swooning, and the band is reeling a bit under the mantle of the Next Big (Canadian) Thing. The challenge now is to be as good as critics claim they are.

''I have a very hard time with reviews," Lenssen said. ''I have a different perspective -- I think of music like toys. Do you review toys? In the end, everybody is trying to make something people are going to enjoy and bring some sort of experience into your life."

In the end, the band may simply have to grow into its own skin. Serene Republic is swinging through the East Coast -- they stop at the Paradise Sunday -- and eventually Lenssen and company will begin recording again. This is a cycle more experienced bands grow used to, but these 20-somethings are still finding their way.

''We're just out there to have a really good time," Lenssen said. ''[Our live] shows are the special moment for us, for an hour and a half. It's nice when a crowd turns off their critique meters. And we just play."