Emo. Yes, yes, it’s easy to laugh – and fun, too. But we must be scientific.
The Academy Is... have a perplexing name, share a label with Paramore and Panic At The Disco, and count Fall Out Boy as acolytes. Let’s lay off the guilt by association though. This is really just straightforward Chicago mass-market powered-up punk pop in which the high school is the main frame of reference: Barrington High is the alma mater of singer William Beckett.
‘About A Girl’ kicks us off and sets the template: hallmark emo powerchords and lyrics about – you’ll never guess – a girl. And so on in the same anthemic, heavy-on-the-harmonies vein. In fact, the only real deviation is for ‘After The Last Midtown Show’, where the thundering drums let up just long enough for lighters-aloft balladry.
Each track could easily soundtrack a full series of Malcolm In The Middle, and if that’s the worst thing that can be said about Fast Times then it’s a decent result. Carefully polished, catchy and not a million miles away from Green Day minus the attitude, Fast Times is so inoffensive that it illustrates a paradox of sorts: this would probably be a better album if it were more annoying.