When it comes to the ‘90s and 2000s pop-punk scene, many of the greatest bands were properly recognized and achieved the international superstardom they deserved, but this doesn’t mean some of the best groups weren’t severely slept on. The bands I’m going to talk about, The Academy Is and Zebrahead, have completely different stories and levels of popularity, and my experiences with the two have been vastly different. However, the common thread they share is that both have produced incredibly catchy, interesting music that needs to be appreciated more on a mainstream level.

I’m not going to lie, I had never listened to The Academy Is until 2022. They had always been a fringe name that I had heard associated with the iconic emo trinity of Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, and My Chemical Romance. They definitely had a substantial cult following, but they didn’t seem to be regarded on the same level. When I first listened to their debut album, Almost Here, my immediate thought was “The Academy Is … right up my alley.” Lead singer William Beckett has a captivating voice with a unique vibrato that’s fun to imitate, almost a vocal lovechild of fellow emo greats Patrick Stump and Brendon Urie, two of my favorite singers. Almost Here features the lovesick teen angst typical of early Fall Out Boy, with lyrics such as “big words, recycled phrases, and the bittersweet taste of other boys on your lips” that could have come straight from Pete Wentz himself. The sound is also very comparable to early FOB. I’m no technical music expert, but the guitar and drums on Almost Here make me forget I’m not listening to From Under the Cork Tree. The music video for the song “The Phrase That Pays” tells the story of a dancing, carefree nurse tending to Beckett as he slowly dies, evoking both early FOB and MCR Black Parade vibes. Besides being reminiscent of Fall Out Boy, there are also some early Panic! at the Disco-esque elements in Almost Here, as it sounds closer to the unique style of A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out than anything else I’ve heard. The intro to the song “Slow Down,” and the line “You kiss me like an overdramatic actor” in particular, give me big Fever energy. The slow guitar is reminiscent of Fever’s burlesque-style songs, and Beckett delivers the line in a similar style to young Brendon Urie: breathy, sassy, condescending but in a fun way.

 Probably the most underrated track on Almost Here is the final one, “Down and Out.” This is a song I feel was built to become an iconic pop-punk anthem, played at emo nights across the country for decades to come, and it’s kind of baffling to me that it’s so little-known. It has all the ingredients necessary for mainstream success: a simple title, a catchy hook that’s easy to sing along to, a classic ill-fated love story, and clever lyrics such as “Why, oh why do you wear sunglasses in the home/When the sun went down about an hour ago?/Life should not be that way.” The only thing “Down and Out” lacks is a music video, which may have ultimately doomed it to obscurity. From beginning to end, Almost Here doesn’t miss on a single track, and while it’s TAI’s best-known album, its standing in pop-punk history is not nearly as prestigious as it should be. I haven’t listened quite as much to TAI’s next two albums, Santi and Fast Times at Barrington High, but they’re also very strong pieces of work, evolving the band’s sound while maintaining the same angsty lyrics and energy. TAI ultimately broke up in 2011, reunited briefly in 2015, and in May 2022, a couple months into my fandom, announced that they were officially back together. I’m excited to see what the future holds.

The same sentiment holds true for Zebrahead, a much lesser known group but one with which I have a much longer history, being a fan for almost a decade. In middle school and early high school, I was obsessed with Sonic the Hedgehog games and their music, and despite being an awful game that was critically panned, Sonic the Hedgehog ‘06 had as much of a banger soundtrack as the rest of them. The intro song “His World” caught my attention, particularly the version that Zebrahead performed for the game. I became curious about the band, so I looked up more of their work. At the time, as a 14-year-old, my music taste was pretty much non-existent. I listened to the ska group The Aquabats, some Weird Al Yankovic, and some early Eminem that satisfied my inner edgelord, and that was about it. When I got into Zebrahead around 2012, however, that was the first inkling of my pop-punk music taste that was to develop in the future. I browsed various songs on YouTube and got hooked on the fast-paced, high-energy punk rock with classic angsty songs about toxic relationships, such as “Falling Apart,” “Blur,” “Sirens,” and many more. Unlike the other emo bands I love, Zebrahead features a hip-hop element, with Ali Tabatabaee providing rap vocals that nicely complement the singing (originally done by Justin Mauriello and then, for a more extended period, Matty Lewis). The inclusion of Ali’s rap vocals sets Zebrahead apart and gives it a more aggressive, macho, almost frat bro-y vibe at times, but the music remains catchy and relatable. Zebrahead has gone through a few different musical styles during their over-25-year run, starting with the style of their first two albums, Waste of Mind and Playmate of the Year. These songs have a very unique laid-back, almost beachy vibe, incorporating many different instruments and a lot of diversity in sound between tracks. Along with pop punk and hip-hop, there are also elements of jazz, funk, and Latin dance music, among others. I absolutely love when rock bands switch up their sound, and the creativity of early Zebrahead is a lot of fun to me. Like early Panic! at the Disco, there really isn’t anything else out there with a similar style that I’ve heard. Zebrahead later transitioned into a more pure pop-punk/hip-hop style, producing several more banger albums throughout the 2000s and 2010s. Their 2010s included Call Your Friends and Walk the Plank, which were my absolute favorite music in high school. The quality from album to album is very consistent, and their overall body of work is very impressive and underrated in my opinion.

Easily the most memorable Zebrahead experience of my life came in 2014, when my brother Reyan and I went to see their show at a small venue in Kentucky. I was 16 and innocent, and it was the first rock concert of my life. Oh boy, was it an experience. The small venue was perfect, making it a very intimate, very punk-rock show. People were packed close together, the boys were up close and personal, and I was singing along to every word. I’m pretty sure I participated in my first mosh pit that night, even though I didn’t really know what it was yet. After the show, I was waiting outside as Reyan went to the restroom. I saw co-lead singer Matty Lewis talking to a fan about 10 feet away, which was more than cool enough for me. Now, I’d probably try to talk to him, but my 16-year-old self didn’t have nearly that much courage. Anyway, when he was done talking to the fan, he left and went into Zebrahead’s tour bus, which was parked on the street. He walked around to the other side to enter the bus, and seconds later, I saw a small stream of liquid pouring out onto the street. I could always be wrong, but I’m fairly certain that I saw Matty Lewis pissing out of his tour bus onto the street. It’s extremely goofy, but it’s also extremely punk rock, and it’s a story that I never get tired of telling to this day.

Another memorable Zebrahead moment from my high school years was the day I finally got my driver’s license during senior year (after a prolonged maneuverability struggle). That night, for the first time, I was able to go out and drive on my own, without one of my parents there. I didn’t know where I was going, and I basically just drove to my school and back. The highlight, however, was that I decided to bump Zebrahead’s newest album at the time, Walk the Plank. The intense, high-energy music combined with the feeling of freedom and finally being on my own was pure ecstasy. To this day, I feel that same sense of liberation whenever I listen to Walk the Plank.

While The Academy Is and Zebrahead have very different histories, styles, and levels of mainstream popularity, I truly feel that both deserve greater recognition, at least in the pop-punk scene and quite possibly on a national level. The Academy Is may not have the longevity and overall body of work of the emo titans, and Zebrahead may be a little rougher around the edges musically and creatively. Both groups, however, have produced songs that I’ll remember forever. They’re both beautiful in their own ways, and they’re both underappreciated.