Media Review

It pains me to say, but I am having a hard time figuring out the Academy Is… One of the more popular Fueled by Ramen bands, TAI recently released Fast times at Barrington High, a quirky album filled to the brim and even overflowing with pop rock punches and hooky guitars. Somewhat of a departure from 2007’s Santi and in quite a different world than 2005’s Almost Here, Fast Times… takes a band that had a very unique sound an voice and successfully transplanted them into a world of pop radio drivel. Dense and thick arrangements along with some ridiculous keyboards make this an ultimately forgettable album.

Starting off with the ridiculously catchy “About a Girl,” the band lays out 12 tracks about summertime, high school and, you guessed it, girls. With few exceptions, the songs themselves do not deviate much from each other either. Front man William Beckett sounds like he has begun to take vocal lessons from Tyson from All-American Rejects. Comparing one pop rock singer to another might not be a good idea, but just listen to the first three songs of the album and you will be convinced you were given a mislabeled CD.

The repetitive “Summer Hair Forever Young” and “His Girl Friday” round out the first ten minutes before transitioning to the throw away “The Test.” The killer here is the guitars sound all extremely similar throughout all four of these songs. Not much variance in tone, effects or even chord progressions. It seems like the guys chucked out complex ideas and opted for the big arena pop rock that has been done many times over, and much better I might add, by Boys Like Girls and the aforementioned All-American Rejects.

A few tracks do however give a little blip on the radar. “Rumored Nights” walks a dangerously fine line between romantic and creepy through a dense arrangement of interesting music. “After the Last Midtown Show” is a delicate ballad that will tug at your heartstrings and really made you want to take this album out and pop in “Forget What You Know.” Hell, “Crowded Room” even had an interesting beginning that sounded a little like the Blood Brothers before the song ultimately fell flat 20 seconds later.

But it was about halfway through track 11, “Paper Chase,” when I realized what was really bothering me about this album. Much like many of my ex-girlfriends, these songs just don’t speak to me anymore. Musical tastes have evolved, while the quality of the music goes in the other direction. I hate the guy that always says, “I like their old stuff,” but this is one case where is the dirty truth. Bands are leaving their roots and instead writing songs that will be over in three and a half minutes and have a repeated hook. While that makes the labels happy, it is ultimately the fans of the band that are the butt of the joke.

If you are just sucking up everything that All Time Low, AAR and Cute is What We Aim For are putting out, you should probably lock down this album. And believe me, there is anything wrong with liking those bands. But if you look back fondly on Almost Here and possibly Santi, you might just want to stick to the good old days.

reviewed by Alex Drumm