''Fast Times at Barrington High'' is the third studio album by American rock band The Academy Is..., released in August 2008.

Background

It was produced by S*A*M and Sluggo. The title refers to the

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

to which William Beckett and Adam Siska went, and a play on the title of the 1982 film ''

Fast Times at Ridgemont High ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' is a 1982 American coming-of-age comedy film directed by Amy Heckerling (in her feature directorial debut), from a screenplay by Cameron Crowe, based on his 1981 book ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A True Sto ...

''. The album cover photo was taken by William Beckett's sister, Courtney Beckett, and shows William sitting on a couch with Naomi, who was guitarist Michael Guy Chislett’s girlfriend at the time, whom he later married.

Pete Wentz Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III (born June 5, 1979) is an American musician best known as the bassist and lyricist for the rock band Fall Out Boy since 2001. Before Fall Out Boy, Wentz was a fixture of the Chicago hardcore scene and was the le ...

posted a blog entry saying that he heard the demos for the new album and called them, "Mind blowing. Miles away from where they were." Collaborations include

Andrew McMahon Andrew Ross McMahon (born September 3, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter. He was the vocalist, pianist and primary lyricist for the bands Something Corporate and main songwriter for Jack's Mannequin and performs solo both under his own nam ...

from

Jack's Mannequin Jack's Mannequin was an American rock band formed in 2004, hailing from Orange County, California. The band originally began as a solo project for Andrew McMahon, the frontman of Something Corporate. The band was signed to Maverick Records an ...

; Gabe Saporta, Ryland Blackinton and Alex Suarez from

Cobra Starship Cobra Starship was an American dance-pop band founded in 2005 by Gabe Saporta (ex- Midtown), and headquartered in New York City. He recorded the first album as a solo project, '' While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets''. Saporta later enlis ...

; and Mason Musso and Blake Healy from

Metro Station A metro station or subway station is a station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the system in the ...

Release

In May 2008, the band performed at

SunFest SunFest is a musical and art festival held annually in the first week of May in West Palm Beach, Florida. SunFest is the state's largest waterfront music and art festival in Florida and attracts more than 100,000 visitors. Main attractions of thi ...

. On June 26, 2008, ''Fast Times at Barrington High'' was announced for release in two months' time. Between June and August 2008, the band performed on the

Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touri ...

. In between dates on this tour, they performed a handful of shows with artists on

Decaydance Records DCD2 Records, formerly known as Decaydance Records, is an independent record label owned by Patrick Stump and Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy and partners, based in New York City. It was founded as an imprint of Fueled by Ramen. The first band Wentz s ...

. The band performed "About a Girl" and "Summer Hair = Forever Young" on Warped Tour and their Australian tour with Panic! at the Disco and Cobra Starship.

Hot Topic Hot Topic, Inc. (stylized as HOT TOPIC) is an American retail chain specializing in counterculture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music. The stores are aimed towards an audience interested in rock music and video gaming, ...

released two new The Academy Is... T-shirts, one of which comes with a code for the free download of an acoustic version of "His Girl Friday". The first single off the album is " About a Girl", which was released on July 15, 2008. On July 23, "Summer Hair = Forever Young" was posted on the group's Myspace profile. "About a Girl" impacted radio on August 12. ''Fast Times at Barrington High'' was released through

Fueled by Ramen Fueled by Ramen LLC is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by 300 Elektra Entertainment. The label, founded in Gainesville, Florida in 1996, is now based in New York City. History John Janick conceived of the l ...

and Decaydance Records on August 19. The Academy Is... held a contest for releasing new tracks, email addresses were entered on a page off the main website page and 8 winners were selected at random to receive a song off the album and also a call from the band and a free signed copy of ''Fast Times at Barrington High''. In October and November, the band went on a headlining US tour, titled Bill & Trav's Bogus Journey Tour. They were supported by

We the Kings We the Kings is an American rock band from Bradenton, Florida. The band's eponymous full-length debut album, released in 2007, included the platinum single " Check Yes Juliet", and went on to sell over 250,000 copies in the US. The group's sec ...

, Carolina Liar and

Hey Monday Hey Monday was an American rock band from West Palm Beach, Florida, formed in 2008. They released their debut album '' Hold On Tight'' in 2008, which produced the singles "Homecoming" and "How You Love Me Now". The album was followed up with th ...

. In April 2009, the group performed at Give it a Name festival in the UK and

Groezrock Groezrock was an annual music festival that took place in Meerhout, Belgium. It started as a small rock and pop festival with one stage and a few hundred people attending, but evolved into a large punk rock/hardcore punk festival, with attend ...

in Belgium. In August, the band went on a tour of Australia with

Anberlin Anberlin is an American alternative rock band formed in Winter Haven, Florida in 2002. Since the beginning of 2007, the band consists of lead vocalist Stephen Christian, guitarists Joseph Milligan and Christian McAlhaney, bassist Deon Rexroat, a ...

Reception

The album sold 35,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number 17 on the ''Billboard'' 200. It was named the 46th best album of 2008 by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

''. By October 2009, the album's sales stood at 85,000.Bell; Harding 2009, p. 57

Track listing

All lyrics written by William Beckett; all music composed by The Academy Is... with

Sam Hollander Sam Hollander is an American songwriter. He has collaborated with the likes of Panic! at the Disco, One Direction, Fitz and the Tantrums, Train, Weezer, Blink-182, Ringo Starr, Def Leppard, Katy Perry, Carole King, Jewel, Pentatonix, Daughtry ...

and Dave Katz on tracks 1–6 and 11. ;Standard Edition: # " About a Girl" – 3:30 # "Summer Hair = Forever Young" – 3:39 # "His Girl Friday" – 3:41 # "The Test" – 3:29 # "Rumored Nights" – 3:45 # "Automatic Eyes" – 3:26 # "Crowded Room" – 3:07 # "Coppertone" – 3:18 # "After the Last Midtown Show" – 5:13 # "Beware! Cougar!" – 3:38 # "Paper Chase" – 3:30 # "One More Weekend" – 3:43 ; iTunes Bonus Tracks: # "Every Burden Has a Version" – 4:08 # "Sodium" – 3:46 # "About a Girl" (Acoustic version) – 3:22 ;

Bonus Track: # "His Girl Friday" (Acoustic version) – 3:42 ;7" Vinyl Bonus Track: # "Tokyo Bay" – 2:59

Release history

Chart positions

Personnel

* William Beckett –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of th ...

, guitar,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

* Mike Carden –

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guita ...

, backing vocals * Adam T. Siska –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

* Andy "The Butcher" Mrotek –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, backing vocals * Michael Guy Chislett –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the feature ...

Contributions

* Gabe Saporta (

& Midtown) – additional vocals on "Crowded Room". * Mason Musso (

) – additional vocals on "Crowded Room". *

(

Something Corporate Something Corporate (also known as ''SoCo'') was an American rock band from Orange County, California, formed in 1998. Their last line-up included vocalist and pianist Andrew McMahon, guitarists Josh Partington and Bobby Anderson, bassist Kev ...

) – piano on "After the Last Midtown Show". * Ryland Blackinton (Cobra Starship) – additional vocals on " About a Girl". * Alex Suarez (Cobra Starship) – additional vocals on "His Girl Friday". * Blake Healy (Metro Station) – piano on "His Girl Friday" and "Summer Hair = Forever Young".

References

; Citations ;Sources *

External links

''Fast Times at Barrington High''
at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

(streamed copy where licensed)
Official website
{{Authority control 2008 albums The Academy Is... albums Fueled by Ramen albums Decaydance Records albums Albums produced by S*A*M and Sluggo