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Kill Hannah

For those who've been yearning for the time when it was acceptable to wear your angst on your sleeve, brace yourselves. It's back. Armed with heavy eyeliner and defiant scowls, Kill Hannah updates the subversive style attributed to the likes of Joy Division and the Cure for people who may not even be aware of its origin.

"From the very beginning, I always had a vision of what I wanted," says Kill Hannah singer/lyricist Mat Devine. "Super-slick, polished, pretentious, arty -- I wanted to be like the cool band with people who had some fashion sense and who liked sexy music." Consider it done. On their new CD, For Never and Ever, Kill Hannah teamed up with former Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson producer Sean Beavan, and the result is a strong album full of catchy loops and powerful guitar chords. The real highlight is Devine's youthful voice; seductive and sardonic, it strives for the place in rock music Shirley Manson's (Garbage) once occupied. "Race the Dream" and "Unwanted" provide ample doses of turbulent riffs and cutting lyrics born of pure postadolescent angst. As the tales of desire and despair unfold, it becomes clear that Kill Hannah's objective goes beyond the scope of merely producing good music.

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Amanda Mahmoudi