The Academy Is – 'Checkmarks’ (Fuelled by Ramen) Released 29/05/06

The Academy Is are supporting Fall Out Boy on tour, have also played with Panic! At the Disco and have a huge Myspace following. All of this marks their card pretty clearly, obviously and the first few seconds of 'Checkmarks' is certainly reminiscent of Panic! and Fall Out Boy's chirpy, commercial sound. It then transforms, however, into something slightly spikier, all impassioned vocals and large riffs. Suggesting that perhaps The Academy Is might be looking for a more credible, less commercial emo sound. Whatever the whys and wherefores of that, while the song isn’t terrible it’s fairly forgettable sadly.