‘Phantoms’ sounds like ghosts of musicians past — and that’s okay

Keep your eyes and ears peeled for Acceptance as April 26 nears and "Phantoms," their major label debut album, hits the stores.

After the successes of "Lost For Words," an indie EP in 1999, and "Black Lines to Battlefields," their 2003 indie release on The Militia Group label, these pop-punk rockers from Seattle, Wash., have been recognized and were picked up by Columbia Records.

Be on the lookout — but you shouldn’t bother looking too hard or too far. You probably won’t have to, because Acceptance is about to be huge.

With a style reminiscent of Yellowcard, Juliana Theory and Jimmy Eat World, Acceptance is almost frustratingly catchy. Their hard guitar riffs and soothing piano melodies mix with swirling pop harmonies and a few too many power chords to form a generic yet strangely solid sound.

Though their single, "Different," claims that they "wanted to be anything different," their sound is nothing new and their lyrics are all about love — a topic that has been tackled by just about everyone.

However, it doesn’t really seem to matter. Their music is fun to listen to and, love them or hate them, if you plan to go on the Internet, play video games, or turn on a radio in the near future you probably won’t be able to escape them.

Over the past few years, the band has done an expansive amount of touring, sharing the stage with big names like Brand New, Yellowcard, Fallout Boy and One Line Drawing. They’ve seen enormous popularity on MP3.com and PureVolume.com, where you can hear exclusive tracks from "Phantoms." They’ve paired up with EA Games and their music will be featured in the upcoming video games "NFL Streets 2," "Sims Interactive" and "MVP Baseball 2005."

Acceptance has everything it takes to cut their way into the mainstream music scene, and they’re set to do just that.