The Academy Is

Once former rivals on the Chicago music scene, front man William Beckett and guitarist Mike Carden put aside their trivial differences and found a shared passion for making the kind of music they had long sought to create. Influenced by bands such as U2, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Third Eye Blind and Death Cab for Cutie, and newly signed to Florida-based indie label, Fueled by Ramen, they are set to release their first, much-anticipated full-length album, Almost Here, in 2005. —EP