Humanzi

Moving the post-punk revival into the arena of contemporary dance culture in much the same way that Primal Scream and the Stone Roses introduced a previous generation of U.K. jangly guitar indie kids to all-night house music raves, Humanzi specializes in a politically oriented form of aggressive dance rock. Formed in Dublin, Ireland, in 2003, Humanzi is named after the theoretical gene-spliced hybrid of chimpanzee and human (also known as the chuman, which isn't nearly as good a band name), and therefore their name is pronounced "hew-man-ZEE" rather than the equally likely at first glance "hoo-MAN-zee." Much like their namesake, the quartet of singer and keyboardist Shaun Mulrooney, guitarist Colm Rutledge, bassist Gary Lonergan, and drummer Brian Gallagher cross-fertilize Stooges-style heavy guitar riffing and Velvet Underground-derived drones with pounding dance beats along the lines of LCD Soundsystem. Signing to Chris Parry's long-running British indie Fiction Records, recently revitalized by the success of Snow Patrol, Humanzi debuted in the fall of 2005 with the single "Fix the Cracks." This was supplanted in early 2006 by "Long Time Coming," itself followed by the summer single "Diet Pills and Magazines." All three of the band's early singles were included on their debut album, Tremors, released in July 2006. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide