Artist:The Academy Is...
Song:About a Girl
Album:Fast Times at Barrington High
The pop band The Academy Is... was on their way to success when the 2008 album Fast Times at Barrington High and single About a Girl charted. But they couldn't seem to get along and they split up in 2011. They have reunited a couple of times but they missed their big opportunity. The Academy Is... is from Chicago. In 2003, lead singer James Beckett and bassist Adam T. Siska were classmates at Barrington High School. They decided to start a band and recruited guitarist Mike Carden after his previous band split up. They added lead guitarist AJ LaTrace and drummer Michael DelPrincipe. They released the 2004 EP The Academy on the local label LLR. Beckett and Carden had recorded solo projects for the label. When Fall Out Boy leader Pete Wentz liked the EP, he took them on tour and they signed with Atlantic's Fueled by Ramen label. The band name was changed to The Academy Is... to avoid legal problems. They recorded the 2004 album Almost Here in Florida with Dashboard Confessional producer James Paul Wisner. After a summer tour, La Trace and DelPricipe were replaced by Thomas Conrad and Andy Mrotek. Then they toured again with Fall Out Boy. The album was finally released Feb. 2005 and The Academy Is... went out on their first headline tour. The album didn't do very well. Conrad was replaced by Michael Guy Chislett. For the 2007 album Santi, The Academy Is... went to Los Angeles to record with producer Butch Walker of Garbage. The album did better so at least they made progress. For the 2008 album Fast Times at Barrington High, The Academy Is... worked with the production team of S*A*M and Sluggo (Sam Hollander, Dave Katz) who had success with Cobra Starship. This album did a lot better as it reached #17 on the Billboard 200. The single About a Girl reached #88 on the Billboard Hot 100. I'm sure the video helped. It was really good. As with all their albums, Beckett wrote all the songs. So now they are getting somewhere. After the 2009 EP Lost in Pacific Time, Mrotek and Chislett left and Beckett announced plans for a new album. But instead they split up. Apparently they weren't getting along and after two guys left, it didn't make sense to stay together. After Beckett recorded solo, The Academy Is... reunited for a 2015 concert and they reunited again in 2022. Based on Beckett's Facebook, a permanent reunion seems unlikely though one offs could happen. I think their time is past anyway. Here's the video for About a Girl by The Academy Is...
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