Kill Hannah : Wake Up the Sleepers

<img src="http://www.qromag.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/killhannahwakeup.jpg" alt=" " />Kill Hannah are hopefully moving from emo electroclash to indie grandeur. ...
6.6 Original Signal
2009 

Kill Hannah : Wake Up the Sleepers Naming your band after a kiss-off to an ex is a rather juvenile move, but have Kill Hannah grown up any since singer Mat Devine started it up almost fifteen years ago?  The Chicago outfit reached major label status in 2003 with For Never & Ever, but seemed positioned in an unappealing space between electroclash & emo on For Never and the following Until There’s Nothing Left of Us.  2008 saw guitarist Jonny Radtke depart, their tour bus catch fire in Switzerland, and the band leave Atlantic.  Yet, to Kill Hannah’s credit, they’ve not only kept on, but with their latest, Wake Up the Sleepers, they’re edging towards a better alternative grandeur.

Not that Devine’s lyrics are any less cheesy, such as singing about ‘making it’ ("Radio"), or tracks with titles like "Why I Have My Grandma’s Sad Eyes" and "Vultures (Be There For Me)".  His higher, breathy voice also is distinctly emo-mopey and teenage.  This not only reduces some pieces to forgettable emo-clash, but also limits the points where Kill Hannah are reaching higher.  Their grandeur & press lift songs like "Snowblinded", "Strobe Lights", and even "Vultures", but can only lift so far.

Just off of a tour with headliners She Wants Revenge (QRO photos from the tour) and first openers Paper Route (QRO photos from the tour), Kill Hannah could go either way, musically speaking: lame emo meets lame electroclash like She Wants Revenge, or impressive grandeur comes to indie-rock like Paper Route ("Vultures", in particular, has hints in the chorus of Paper Route’s strong title track from AbsenceQRO review).  Here’s hoping they follow the right path.

MP3 Stream: "Snowblinded"

{audio}/mp3/files/Kill Hannah – Snowblinded.mp3{/audio}

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