Chicago's Kill Hannah have been a steady force in their local area for half a decade, captivating young crowds throughout their community with flashy pop/rock songs and glamorous appearances. In only seemed inevitable that the tidal wave of fan support would guide these boys to pop stardom, and with their Atlantic Records debut, the willowy "For Never & Ever", the group look to parlay their cult following into mainstream acceptance.

Depth is not a strong point for Kill Hannah and realistically there is no need for the band to mine such territory, their enthusiastic zest for the material being performed substitutes adequately enough. With that said, this an album devoid of any substance whatsoever, making the songs airy and forgettable regardless of the overbearing hooks that blanket the album. It is clear that the group found inspiration from the atmospheric alternative rock of The Smashing Pumpkins, as Mat Devine's breathy vocals often draw comparisons to Billy Corgan's richly breezy singing; yet the group lack the vision and originality that made the aforementioned quartet one of the mid 90's most highly touted collectives. In addition, Kill Hannah rely all too heavily on Jon Radtke's synth based electronic flourishes which are reminiscent of Orgy, albeit without the subsequent hard rock punch that the latter group embellished. "Race The Dream" is driven by the ever-present synth pulse beating just below the surface, and Devine's coy exhalations brim with boyish passion, yet the track never quite captures the spark they seem to be on the brink of igniting. It's misses like this that give record little forward momentum, wallowing in nauseatingly catchy synth pop that seems desperate for top 40 attention, making it all too easy to dismiss with nary a second glance.

"For Never & Ever" is essentially a modernized version of 80's glam rock, and the group's desire to spice the style up with thinly veiled pop and dalliances with electronica never quite work. The album is ripe with singles ready to inundate alternative radio, and in that sense Kill Hannah are quite focused on the task at hand. The issue is that this is a rather empty rock album that revels a bit too lavishly on its mediocre pop splendor, built upon tedious song structures that never really hit upon anything exciting. There are moments of grandeur to be seen throughout the course of this high-gloss pop confection, most notably in the sugar-coated single "Kennedy" and the repetitive heartbreaker "Raining All The Time", but the band never seem to apply this wit and appeal to its surrounding tracks. Sure, with the group's glitzy, androgynous demeanor and youthfully shallow lyrical content they are likely to be the hottest commodity this side of Good Charlotte in the minds of millions of adolescent girls; yet on their Atlantic Records debut these high-maintenance pop/rock pretty boys amount to little more than the aural equivalent of a GAP commercial.