Bubble-gum rock release is empty

By Meg Walsh

Published April 13, 2007

A tall, slender brunet takes the stage. The singer's tight, dark denim jeans reveal some lovely junk-in-the-trunk. The angelic voice spews forth slurs between tones and pitches and hits the highest notes imaginable. Is this the latest pop-idol girl star? No, this is William Beckett.

The Academy Is... is one of the bands to emerge in the recent Fueled By Ramen Records destruction of the music industry. Carried to the label on the back of fellow Chicagoan Pete Wentz, The Academy Is... is better known for frontman Beckett's girlish good looks than for any memorable track, though its musical ability is hard to ignore.

The Academy Is... has the most staying power of all of these new emo-pop bands. Unlike the others, the band's songs have more words in their lyrics than their titles, and the boys don't rely on costumes and gimmicks to get noticed. Beckett can, in fact, sing in proper English and his junk isn't all over the Internet.

The band's sophomore release, Santi, has musical qualities of a more experienced band than the one that made its well-received debut, Almost Here. The boys go bigger with the help of producer Butch Walker, so the album sounds like a group of seasoned professionals.

The album starts strong with an arena-style rock track, "Same Blood." The track then segues into "LAX to O'Hare," which is an almost danceable track (but none of the band's fans dance at shows anyway.)

"Bulls In Brooklyn" is by far the most surprising track. Beckett's vocals almost mirror Prince's in the intro, and the stadium-rock pounding behind it sounds like the boys are trying too hard to be "edgy" or something.

"Chop Chop" starts out sounding like a Dropkick Murphys rip-off, but it quickly pulls back into the typical Academy sound of bouncy rock.

The first single, "We've Got a Big Mess On Our Hands," displays Beckett's vocal strength, which is far above that of fellow Rameners Patrick Stump and Brandon Urie.

But like many of this genre, the band is like candy. It's sweet and fun, but there's no value in it. It's enjoyable, but the enjoyment is empty. I'll admit to listing The Academy Is... as one of my guilty pleasures, and to me, this album is a progression, but they still aren't going to be able to break out of the useless bubble-gum-rock genre.

The album is like high school. Yes, the boys are bigger and more mature than they used to be, but they still have a long way to go before the music industry will take them seriously. Hopefully with its next release, The Academy Is... will fully mature into a band with real staying power.

As long as the boys don't start taking themselves too seriously, The Academy Is... will be fine. Hopefully they can give Urie a few pointers on what rock's about, and Panic! At The Disco will drop the circus act.