The Academy Is... Band

The Academy Is... was a pop-rock band from Chicago, active from 2003 to 2011. They were signed to Fueled By Ramen and released 3 studio albums; Almost Here (2005), Santi (2007), and Fast Times At Barrington High (2008).
They broke up in 2011 but reunited to play Riot Fest in 2015 and performed a farewell tour for the tenth anniversary of their debut record, Almost Here, in December 2015.

 

Santi was released ten years ago this year!! listening to it now and i love it more than i remember, or at least more than i have in years.
i obsessed over this scene and every single album that came from it back in the mid-aughts, then fell off for a while.

i will never get over that i didn't get to see their farewell/Almost Here tour though...

 

Unpopular opinion: Fast Times was their best record.

 

interesting take.

 

Sleeping With Giants is such a jammer, damn

 

Even though I had been to a handful of shows before theirs, I still consider TAI to be the band that got me into going to shows back in 2005. It crushed me when they broke up, and again when they didn't play near me for the farewell tour. Almost Here is probably a Top 5 album for me.

 

easily. it's where they perfected what they're best at (catchy mid-tempo pop rock with innofensive lyrics) even if they at times still invested in salty vengeful teenage storytelling ("Crowded Room"), which is what turns me off of them the most

 

Santi is my favorite, but I do have a place in my heart for all 3 albums.

 

Oh hey TAI is what got me into going to shows and by extension music in general more. I owe pretty much everything I listen to now to them in a drawn out way.

I was absolutely obsessed with them from like 07 through when they broke up. I even went to see them in Chicago from Cleveland when they did the first anniversary show for Almost Here. Sometimes I think I'm over them but then I listen to an album or song and I'm sucked back in. I'm clearly biased but TAI is definitely the superior band from that scene/time period.

Santi and Lost in Pacific Time are my faves. Almost Here is also great. Fast Times would've made an amazing EP but as an album some of the songs aren't so hot.

Edit: Also fingers crossed for a Santi vinyl pressing for the anniversary because odds are a tour or anniversary show isn't happening.

 

yeah, i'd love to get my hands on some vinyl pressings from these FBR-scene era bands

i'm gonna fall into a YouTube hole of watching their music videos now

 

Love this band, every one of their releases is really solid, with the exception of that first EP. I dunno what they were going for there but it's kind of awful. The Hush Sound recorded their first album at the same studio with the same producer not even a year later and it doesn't sound nearly as bad ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Lost In Pacific Time and Chicago are great, it would have been interesting to see what a fourth album from them would have sounded like.

 

Santi is my favorite TAI record. I'm really hoping for a 10 year show in Chicago show this year.

 

Always loved these guys and followed them from the beginning, as I am from Chicago originally. I always thought they would blow up like Fall Out Boy did, surprised it never happened

 

best song on each album: Classifieds, Seed, Coppertone. i'm sure this is unpopular as hell haha

 

Coppertone is the bomb

 

their best song and my favorite song of 2016!! yup i'm a bit late

 

Coppertone is jam city. Yeah, their best song for sure.

 

Coppertone and After The Last Midtown Show are both choice as hell

also, watching the video for Summer Hair again after who knows how many years reminded me how much of a helluva solid pop single that song is

 

ALSO, do any of you think they'll ever do more reunion shows again? or after the Almost Here tour, are they completely done, for good?

 

I think it's definitely possible. They all still seem like pretty good friends and the demand is there.

 

I back it, Coppertone is probably their best song.

 

i think there's a decent chance they'll do something for Santi's anniversary but not for Fast Times, so after this year they'd be done for good

a tour during December and January/18 celebrating both albums would be so awesome though

 

I actually love William's solo albums, I really want more music from him and/or TAI

 

Me too! Really hoping he puts something out this year.

 

I'd actually never heard this song before, but I think it was his most recent release, from a few years ago