The Academy Is… has most often been described using broad terms such as ‘up and coming,' or ‘the next big thing,' since their debut, a self-titled EP, in 2004.
In its latest release, "Fast Times at Barrington High," however, the band shows its inability to provoke any more-specific positive praise. The album does mark an inevitable maturing of sorts, but underneath it all, The Academy has finally given into the fact that it'll never be an A-list group.
Originally from Hoffman Estates, Ill., The Academy Is… rose to its current popularity by making connections with fellow Chicago scenester Pete Wentz (bassist for Fall Out Boy), and consequently signing a few months later to his record label imprint, Decaydence (also the home of Paramore and Panic at the Disco).
In 2005 the band relased its debut album, "Almost Here," which was received with open arms by the scene crowd, but failed to make any sort of big splash.
In 2007, the follow-up album, "Santi," took the band's sound in several new directions, making for a very scattered but insightful album.
"Santi" ventured into the genres of new wave and classic rock, staying slightly emo all the while; but the lack of cohesion made the record difficult to swallow, and disappointing sales soon followed.
With "Fast Times at Barrington High," the group abandoned all but a few creative paths. The first track off the album, "About a Girl," could easily be found among the many carbon-copy punk-pop songs that clutter the airwaves.
The chorus is slightly catchy, but far from anything that sticks, and frontman William Beckett's distinctively dry vocals have been smoothed out with overproduction, rendering him as yet another skinny scenester boy with a half-decent voice.
Even the subject matter is painstakingly mundane, with Beckett singing, "I'm not in love/ This is not my heart/ I'm not going to waste these words/ About a girl."
The first single and second cut on the record is "Summer Hair = Forever Young." If the band was hoping to match the success of Rod Stewart's "Forever Young" by literally equating the two songs, it really muffed this one up.
The song is nearly identical to "Girl," and it only makes matters worse that the chorus reads, "I'll never let you go/ Don't ever forget/ You and me forever/ Forever young." It's hard to believe these words came from the same man who penned some of the introspective and discerning lyrics on "Santi."
The only track that truly stood out from the banality of the rest was "Rumored Nights," a drowsy Robert Smith-influenced number that cuts out the unnecessary fluff found in the rest of the songs. Despite the fact that the lyrics deal with disillusionment of lost love, "Rumored" is in fact the brightest spot on the entire album.
What truly gives "Fast Times at Barrington High" away as a reach towards pop-chart success is the band's image in the cover and jacket art.
From the first days of the band, the members always associated themselves with a high-art crowd, dressing with skinny jeans, suede jackets and cleverly placed bandanas. But on "Fast Times at Barrington High" every member intentionally dresses in simple jeans and flashy pastel T-shirts. The material on the album is pure fluff, so it's only fitting that the band becomes just as fluffy in appearance.
With its third album, The Academy Is… stood to fully separate itself from the pack of rock drones in the music world, but instead the group took the easy way out.
"Fast Times at Barrington High" at times sounded like a half-effort and at others represented a full push toward becoming fully blasé and predictable.
