CD Review

Tonight’s episode of the O.C. featured new music by The Academy Is…

Chances are you’ll be hearing that at some point. This lightly-fared skate rock debut by Chicago’s latest teen-phenoms is the perfect backdrop for a post-graduation beach bonfire scene. Its got those catchy hooks and pop tendencies, but with just enough bad boy riffs and self-indulgent melodrama to make Aaron Spelling drool. But at least its legit, as these guys can’t even order a beer yet, and they’re releasing albums full of soundtrack quality pieces. That’s more than you can say for most nineteen year olds.

The chief writing duo of frontman William Beckett and guitarist Mike Carden have got an exciting collaborative future ahead. Rather than pushing out a debut smorgasbord like every other new band, they actually created a record that defines themselves with a significant artist voice. It hints at Death Cab For Cutie and Elvis Costello, but that range could have been a lot further apart, and a lot worse choice for such young kids. And being so young you can’t fault Beckett for singing ‘my life reads like the classifieds,’ or 'don’t believe a word you’ve heard about me,’ and every other Avril Lavigne type line you can scrawl on your biology notebook.

With the blitz this band is about to get, they certainly are almost here. Throw some life experience in to write about and they’re almost there.

For more info see theacademyis.com