The Academy – Self-Titled

LLR Records is the label that has brought us many amazing bands over the past. Hidden In Plain View, 504 Plan, Remember Maine, and August Premier are only a few of their well known roster. Now they bring us The Academy, featuring Bill E. Beckett, the sole member of Remember Maine. Unfortunately, they don’t come close to the standard that LLR normally gives us.

Right away the album starts off poorly with The Proverbial Unrest, which is just an introduction song; but not a good one in anyway. Every time you listen to the EP, you skip over the track. It is painful to listen to and has no real value, just dead space. This makes you start to doubt the disc right away. As the second track, The Author, starts, you instantly think: Taking Back Sunday. And that is what you think the entire album. They use the same structure, the same dueling vocals, the same melodies; but not nearly as good as TBS. It sounds like they were trying to pick up on something that was hitting it big at the moment rather then making something for themselves; and that only makes the EP disappointing.

Sure, some TBS fans will like this copycat band, as there are some good parts and a few good songs on it (In Our Defense is a great track); but its not an album you can listen to over and over again, once or twice and your done with it.