Fueled By Ramen
2008
Fast Times At Barrington High
About This Album
For half a decade, the Academy Is... watched from the sidelines as Fall Out Boy became the Midwestern kings of emo. Fast Times at Barrington High makes a well-deserved grab for the crown, flaunting a combination of rock & roll bombast and pop-schooled songwriting. It's albums like this that challenge the definition of emo, an amorphous genre whose current bands sound little like their 20th century ancestors. There's no whining here, no heart-wrenching lyrics, and few indications that William Beckett's group is anything but an energetic pop/rock outfit. So while Fast Times pushes the Academy Is... into the upper echelon of emo bands, it also challenges the genre's entire composition, making it one of the most interesting emo-related albums since Jack's Mannequin's Everything in Transit.

Of course, it's hard to tell how much credit belongs to Beckett, whose vocals and songwriting skills have nicely progressed since the band's debut, and which accolades go to Sam Hollander and Dave Katz, the production team otherwise known as S*A*M & Sluggo. Perhaps it's no coincidence that the album's first six songs, all written with the duo's help, are also the most radio-ready pop numbers here.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,10,11 and 12)

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