Now-a-days there seems to be a thin line between Dance Rock and Emo Punk when it comes to indie bands. Even fans of revered groups like Bloc Party will each give you a different category and genre that the boys belong to.  Electro Rock. Post-Post Punk.  This may seem like a small issue but in the retail-less world of music where artists are forced to find food and clothing stores happy to stock your CD at the checkout counter next to the gum or magazines as an impulse item, it is crucial to decide whether you are a trying to be a Starbucks or Wal-Mart group, Urban Outfitters or Hot Topic?

Luckily, Kill Hannah has secured their die hards through over a decade of hard work, indie releases, major label albums, constant touring, and did I mention hard work.  If no one else does, Chicago has got Hannah's back.  Dating back to 1993 the band has rocked Chi-Town clubs with independently released tracks until Atlantic Records came knocking, allowing them to release 2 commercial CD’s between 2003 (For Never & Ever) to 2006 (Until There’s Nothing Left of Us).  The music got them on major tours with a wide range of bands from Dance Rockers Shiny Toy Guns, straight forward Rockers Velvet Revolver, to Goth Rocker HIM.  Despite the exposure, they have remained an underground sensation.

Wake Up The Sleepers is proclaimed as their “most important album to date,”  possibly because it is their most ambitious but maybe because it could be a make or break moment in their long career.  The album begins with “Radio” a bright and hopeful song about resilience and survival which has singer Mat Devine thumbing his nose at the naysayers who’ve doubted the band.  At first, new Hannah listeners may feel Mat sounds a bit too much like Brian Aubert of indie band done good, Silversun Pickups, not realizing that Hannah pre-dates them by 10 years.  Just another downside of being underground I guess.  The album continues in a similar style with plenty of 4-to-the-floor drum beats matched with mostly Emo style guitar and lyrics that don’t attempt to compete with more Electro style bands likeYeah, Yeah, Yeahs or Late of the Pier as much as they conjure up the Post Punk vibe of The Cure at times.  Album hi-lights include up-tempo love song “Snowblinded”, the aggressive dance track “Strobe Light”, and moody “Vultures (Be There For Me)” which may be the collections best hope for a radio hit.  I’m not sure that Wake Up The Sleepers will be the launch pad they are hoping for, but at the endof the day Kill Hannah has a leg up on the competition by having a devoted fanbase that can sustain them long after  teeny boppers grow out of Fallout Boy and the scenesters ditch Karen O for the next cool thing. Fame is fleeting.  So what’s my advice…keep pimpin’ that niche.

- D. Painter

KILL HANNAH ARE CURRENTLY ON TOUR WITH SHE WANTS REVENGE visit www.KillHannah.com for more tour info and to purchase the new album Wake Up The Sleepers.