Full Review: The Academy Is… – Fast Times At Barrington High
After hearing the record’s lead single, “About A Girl”, it’s hard to argue that this band can’t write a radio hit. In fact Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy is quoted as saying “Mind blowing. Miles away from where they [The Academy Is...] were” about this album. So how does the final product stand up?
“About A Girl” continues to linger on the mind as one of the album’s strongest. The song has a laid back rock grove during the verses and then an almost [AHA, "Take On Me"] thing going on during the chorus which really hits hard. The song however, is a bit ironic and hopefully what the band was going for as they sing a whole song about not wanting to write a song about a presumably specific girl.
There is no debating that this is a summer record, and in my opinion needed to be released back at the end of May or some time in June. The end of August seems too late to capitalize on the album’s strengths.
“His Girl Friday” along with “Summer Hair Forever Young” are other radio singles just waiting for their chance to shine. “Coppertone” is another track later on the record which gets high marks for its use of overly catchy hooks. The song ties into the album’s title by singing over and over, “These are the fast times”.
“After The Last Midtown Show” is the slowest song on the record bringing down the tempo and keeping it down for the song’s duration. The song, which Beckett has professed as being about the only girl he’s ever loved, is able to grab your attention with a deep sense of passion that rings through the speakers.
There are some parts, a lot actually, that come off as catering to the high school crowd. There is no doubt that the band is smart and know what they are doing when writing the lyrics and songs but some of the time is feels as if they’re selling themselves short. You could probably get into a fist fight with someone over whether certain music is overly trendy, and we’ll leave that up to the individual but only to reiterate that there are a lot of parts which come off as the band not pushing themselves.
So the final conclusion? The record is solid the entire way through, pivoting around the summer theme indirectly. “About A Girl” along with “Summer Hair = Forever Young” will be some of the first songs to get stuck in your head and most likely after listening a few times though the others will as well.
August 15th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
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August 19th, 2008 at 3:44 am
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January 7th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
The more I listen to this cd, the more I like it. I find the songs getting stuck in my head and I sing them during the day. I am a little dissapointed that the songs are directed to the high school crowd as that was long ago for me. I relate to the songs from “Almost Here” better. But I do like this better than Santi and these guys are freakin awesome live!!
January 8th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
^ the cool part is everyone went through high school so everyone of the age group and beyond can relate to it. You don’t have to be that age to appreciate the emotions. But yeah Almost here was better.