Shiny Toy Guns

Shiny Toy Guns: it's a good name choice for a band who's glossy and seemingly threatening, yet ultimately toothless. Los Angeles band Shiny Toy Guns specializes in high-intensity '80s revivalism, giving the Duran Duran and Human League sounds a gothy emo makeover. Time may separate those bands, but eyeliner bridges decades, and the band—bassist/keyboardist Jeremy Dawson, vocalist/guitarist Chad Petree, drummer Mike Martin and vocalist Sisely Treasure—is a synthy, dancey diversion at best. Treasure is the third female lead vocalist to sing with the band, officially joining two months ago and following in the wake of the just-as-dramatically named Carah Faye Charnow and Ursula Vari.

The band seems to have found a formula that works and stuck to it. Shiny Toy Guns has released its debut album We Are Pilots a total of three times—once in early 2005, then later that year with a revised tracklist and re-recorded songs, and again on the major label Universal Records in 2006. This year, though, finally sees some new material, with sophomore album Season of Poison dropping on Universal but bringing nothing new to the stage.

While We Are Pilots put its game face on to at least make a good offering at recycling the old into new, Season of Poison is doubly unlucky, taking a new-is-old-is-new sound from the band's first album and replicating it. Old is old? New is new? Either way, it all sounds the same, at this point—album leadoff single "Ricochet!" might as well have come out on the first album. When already stuck under the shadow of other Duran Duran-homaging bands like The Killers, shouldn't a band do something to stand out? Shiny Toy Guns, on this dull, dull album, seems not to think so.

—Chris Hassiotis
11.04.2008

Shiny Toy Guns' sophomore effort sheds some of the retro appeal that fueled the band's first record, We Are Pilots, in favor of a dark electronica/rock hybrid that recalls Evanescence and the melodic side of Linkin Park. Female singer Sisely Treasure makes her debut with the group, having replaced the departing Carah Faye Charnow several months before the album's release, and her vocals brim with the energy of an aggressive cheerleader. Such rhythmic scream/singing provides a nice contrast to Chad Petree, who handles the bulk of the album's melodic vocals. With Charnow out of the picture, this is undoubtedly Petree's band, and Treasure adds a fiery, sensual spark without hijacking the spotlight. Personnel changes notwithstanding, the biggest difference here is the band's decreased debt to the dancefloor, as they now rely more heavily on guitars and distortion pedals rather than synthesizers. "Ghost Town" flaunts a stomping, club-ready drumbeat before dissolving into a mainstream rock chorus, but tracks like "Money for That" and "When Did This Storm Begin" are more suited to headbanging than dance moves. When the bandmates decide to revisit the '80s-inspired sounds of their debut, as they do on "I Owe You a Love Song," the results are decidedly mixed. The song bubbles with keyboard undercurrents, but the chorus relies too heavily on Petree's long, sustained high notes, which lose their luster after two key changes and nearly four minutes of repetitive hooks. Season of Poison is bound to please fans of goth metal and electro-laced rock, and the gorgeous "Frozen Oceans" appealingly finishes the album with lush balladry. Even so, this seems like a slight stumble after We Are Pilots' strong start, although Shiny Toy Guns have yet to lose their momentum. ~ Andrew Leahey, All Music Guide