They’ve been on the scene for a good near-decade now (definitely long enough to put their shifts in getting crowds jumping about at indie festivals, with consistency), and The Academic haven’t been immune to being decried as landfill indie – on the grounds that their early work was indie-rock leaning guitar bops with choruses you could pick up and belt along to with minimal listening. With sonics of the Circa Waves persuasion, The Academic dominated the sunny underground of indie-rock’s golden era, but on Sitting Pretty, they’re shifting far more restlessly than the title would suggest.
Bringing in plenty of glitzy, retro sounds like the scratchy background of “What’s Wrong With Me” or the psychedelic twinkles of highlight “Rain Keeps Falling,” The Academic move with the times. In the current indie landscape, Sitting Pretty makes for as pleasant, upbeat listening as any of their earlier releases, but with a more grown-up lens and a closer eye on the musicality – nowhere better than on closer “Buying Smokes,” where opulent moments (a scuzzy guitar solo over boyband backing vocals over what sounds like the Succession theme song) and everyday lyricism blend to The Academic at their nostalgic, but fresh, best.
There’s certainly an element of zeitgeisty funk-pop saturating Sitting Pretty. If The Academic were making indie-rock at the apex of indie-rock’s popularity, they grew up alongside their fans – slipping effortlessly into the woozy pop tones that the likes of Easy Life, SPINN, and The Magic Gang were responsible for pushing onto main stages with lighter textures and more intricate instrumentals. Although it’s not particularly unique, there’s no pretending that The Academic haven’t mastered it: as well as the aforementioned “Buying Smokes”, the album’s best points are its most mellow. Optimistic nihilism looks gorgeous on “Homesick” as vocalist Craig Fitzgerald muses “it’s just the way your life is / at the moment,” and “My Very Best” shimmers with introspection and lilts through its almost-Tears-for-Fears bassline with moody magnitude.
Both musically and thematically, Sitting Pretty is the sound of deciding to grow up and be ok with it, and The Academic have done it gracefully and comfortably. It's these kind of creative decisions that make seeing where they settle next all the more exciting.
