The Academy Is… - Santi
Following success from their debut 'Almost Here', Chicago rocksters The Academy Is... are back with their second album 'Santi', and they have a lot to live up to.
Opening track 'Same Blood' certainly sets the pace with its fast guitar playing antics and 80s style rock manifesto, with vocalist William Beckett belting out heartbreaking experiences; but don't be disillusioned by his crying woe, for this beauty of a track has built you up for an unsubstantial following.
Yes they have talent, there's no doubt about that, but what's missing here is a distinctive style, a catalyst that could initially set them apart from the rest, and from what it seems, they've just been beating about borrowing other bands formulas. The jumpy opening rift to 'Lax To O'Hare' for example sounds like something stolen from Franz Ferdinand's recording studio (not that it would have their stamp of approval), and the lyrics resemble the style of Panic! At The Disco and Fall Out Boy.
The Academy Is... seem to have gone off on a tangent, which has initially left them with a deadly cocktail of random tracks that would leave you waking up in the morning reaching for that pro plus.
Beckett can sing, but lyrically he just doesn't cut it. 'Big Mess On Our Hands' suggests exactly that, with Beckett's annoying 'ahhing' and 'whooping' being enough to send Doherty to rehab, and just when you thought it was all over, 'Bulls In Brooklin' cheats you with more random outbursts, of which are enough to send you dashing to that stop button.
As Beckett's saliva covered lyrics suggest, "Some people have it, but other people don't". It's certainly apparent that The Academy Is... hold the special ability to 'have it', they just need to put themselves in gear to find 'it'.
Following success from their debut 'Almost Here', Chicago rocksters The Academy Is... are back with their second album 'Santi', and they have a lot to live up to.
Opening track 'Same Blood' certainly sets the pace with its fast guitar playing antics and 80s style rock manifesto, with vocalist William Beckett belting out heartbreaking experiences; but don't be disillusioned by his crying woe, for this beauty of a track has built you up for an unsubstantial following.
Yes they have talent, there's no doubt about that, but what's missing here is a distinctive style, a catalyst that could initially set them apart from the rest, and from what it seems, they've just been beating about borrowing other bands formulas. The jumpy opening rift to 'Lax To O'Hare' for example sounds like something stolen from Franz Ferdinand's recording studio (not that it would have their stamp of approval), and the lyrics resemble the style of Panic! At The Disco and Fall Out Boy.
The Academy Is... seem to have gone off on a tangent, which has initially left them with a deadly cocktail of random tracks that would leave you waking up in the morning reaching for that pro plus.
Beckett can sing, but lyrically he just doesn't cut it. 'Big Mess On Our Hands' suggests exactly that, with Beckett's annoying 'ahhing' and 'whooping' being enough to send Doherty to rehab, and just when you thought it was all over, 'Bulls In Brooklin' cheats you with more random outbursts, of which are enough to send you dashing to that stop button.
As Beckett's saliva covered lyrics suggest, "Some people have it, but other people don't". It's certainly apparent that The Academy Is... hold the special ability to 'have it', they just need to put themselves in gear to find 'it'.
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