FamilyFans Music

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SANTI

The Academy Is... / Fueled By Ramen

Fan Appeal: Teens

Genre: Punk Rock

Although Santi is a pretty solid CD, I have to admit I was a little disappointed in The Academy Is... this time around. For me, Santi just didn’t match up to its predecessor: Almost Here.

Still, there were some good moments on this CD. One of the best songs on this album is the first one, “Same Blood.” It is well-thought-out musically and has some really cool harmonies and other vocal parts going on behind the lead vocals. Lyrically, “Same Blood” simply states that everyone is basically the same underneath the skin. All that separates one person from another is the experiences that he or she has gone through.

Another song that has some appealing rock behind it is “We’ve Got A Big Mess On Our Hands.” This song has a powerful, dominant guitar line, and some great “ah, ah, ah’s.” One more musically interesting song is “Sleeping With Giants (Lifetime).” This tune seems to go against the grain of the normal music template, giving strong rock melodies rock on the verses, and fading to a softer sound on the chorus. This kind of musical reversal is rare, and in this song at least, it works out really well. Lyrically, this one also seems to have the simple question embedded in it that wants to know what are we supposed to do with our lives? And once we find out what we want, how do we do it?

Although there are several good songs, nothing seemed to live up to previous works. The album as a whole sounds like the band members were overworked and rushing to get tracks written and recorded. There isn’t anything as simple as “Attention” off of Almost Here. Everything seemed too complex on this CD, like there was supposed to be a story that tied in with this or that and twisted and turned - but had no real meaning in the end (or a meaning only a few people would get). That is OK every now and then, but there was just too much of that on Santi. The prime example of that is the song “LAX to O’Hare” which seems to be about a tragic airplane ride and a breakup and probably some other stuff too. There just isn’t enough of one part to understand what is happening as a whole. One more downside of this band is that they aren’t Christians. Although overall the music isn’t that unwholesome, there are a few sexual references, and on the song “Neighbors,” they repeat the word “damn” several times.

I would say that fans of The Academy Is… will probably like Santi, but if you or your teenager are first time listeners, check out Almost Here first and see what you think then make a decision about this one.

FAMILYFANS RATING: C+

If members of your family like this CD, then you may want to try…

-Almost Here, The Academy Is…, Punk Rock. One of the better punk rock CD’s in this new punk generation.

-The All-American Rejects (Self-Titled), The All-American Rejects, Punk Rock. A great punk album with some more experimental parts that contribute to a solid CD.

--Tony Nappa

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