Almost Here is the debut studio album by American rock band The Academy Is..., released on February 8, 2005 by Fueled by Ramen. Background On April 13, 2004, the Academy Is signed to Fueled by Ramen; in the same month, they went on tour supporting Less Than Jake. On July 6, 2004, a demo of "Slow Down" was posted on their PureVolume account; that same month, they went toured the US with Fall Out Boy, Armor for Sleep and Bayside. Almost Here was recorded at Wisner Productions in St. Cloud, Florida, with James Paul Wisner, who produced, engineered, and recorded the sessions. He also mixed the album with Jeremy Dubois at The Dungeon in Miami, Florida; Alan Douches mastered the album at West West Side Music. After recording the album and a doing a summer tour, the band underwent a lineup change. Tom Conrad, formerly of Chicago local band 504 Plan, replaced AJ LaTrace as second guitarist/backing vocalist and Andy Mrotek, formerly of Last Place Champs, replaced Mike DelPrincipe as the drummer. Andy Mrotek and Thomas Conrad are listed in the liner notes, but were added to the band after the recording of Almost Here to replace DelPrincipe and LaTrace, respectively. Release In August 2004, it was reported that the band's upcoming debut, titled Almost Here, was schueled for release early next year. Following this, they toured with the Matches, Lucky Boys Confusion and Armor for Sleep in October. In January and February 2005, the band toured across the US alongside Something Corporate, Hidden in Plain View, Straylight Run, and Armor for Sleep. Almost Here was released on February 8 through Fueled by Ramen; it was promoted in the US with the Fueled By Ramen & Friends Tour between March and May 2005, alongside labelmates Fall Out Boy and Gym Class Heroes, as well as Midtown and Silverstein. In addition to this, they appeared at The Bamboozle festival. In mid-June, a music video for "Checkmarks" premiered on Fuse's Oven Fresh programme. In July 2005, the band toured with Plain White T's, Days Away and June, and appeared on the 2005 Warped Tour. Following this, they went on a cross-country US tour with Hidden in Plain View, Spitalfield and Halifax in August and September 2005. In January 2006, the band went on a sold-out UK tour with Panic! at the Disco. In February and March, the group went on the Truckstops