The Academy Is… hit their stride in the mid-2000s with Almost Here, an album that perfectly captured the stylish energy of that era’s pop-punk boom. They were one of the hottest names around when I was a junior in high school and mixed polished hooks with a flair for drama that clearly drew from the same well of theatrical sensibilities that a young Panic! At the Disco’s Brandon Urie was tapping into at the time. Frontman William Beckett didn’t have Urie’s sky-high vocal range but he brought a cool confidence and charm that gave the band its own identity. I can’t tell you how many times me and the boys rocked “The Phrase That Pays” on a Friday night cruising around our hometown but I can tell you without a doubt that “hold your head high heavy hearts” was probably a tattoo I considered at one point in my life. Never pulled the trigger but maybe should have.
Standout Songs: “Attention”, “Slow Down”, “The Phrase That Pays”, “Skeptics and True Believers”
