Shiny Toy Guns - Fading Listening

My obsession with Shiny Toy Guns is becoming pretty severe. Like they are rapidly becoming a huge part of my musical go-to-artists, you know the ones that no matter how crappy you feel, as soon as you throw on a track; things start to look up. So their new album III came out today and from what I've heard on my first run through, the band is back to being the amazing group they were with We Are Pilots. When I initially started writing about them, I wanted to ride the fence between Carah Faye and Sisely but as time has gone on, it is clear to me that Carah Faye is the only way to go.  Season of Poison wasn't a horrible album but it was too different from their first outing and getting back to (what I feel they do best) what they do best, III is nothing but pure Synth Pop to the absolute max and I love every minute of it.  Here is a bit of a sneak to tide you over until I come back with my full write up.

It's a super cute concept for the video using the kids in place of the band but sometimes I need to see that band I am watching.  Carah Faye sounds amazing in this song.  She is channeling some serious Christine McVie meets Stevie Nicks and there is just a bit of Bryan Ferry in Chad's vocals.  I love every minute of this track and there are even more amazing examples of how this group has grown and matured.  I am so happy that Carah Faye is back behind this microphone where she belongs and I will have a full review of the album as soon as I am done with my second pass through.  Until then, enjoy "Fading Listening" and get ready for some amazing music from these guys.

Newest Obsession: Shiny Toy Guns

I realize that I am very late to the party on this band. Almost too late to be considered fashionably late but I'm here and that should be all that matters. I don't know if its the mixture of rock and pop and synth mixed in with the male versus female vocals or if it's just the awesome synchronicity of them all but there is something about this band that is simply magic. I have a very difficult time picking a favorite female vocalist, Carah Faye or Sisely because they are both amazing in their own rights. I like to think that I can hear some Dale Bozzio and Terri Nunn in their vocals. There are so many positive influences you can pick up in their music but it's more than that. They have created their own sound out of the remnants of all these amazing components that make them so much more than a simple synth pop group or even an indie band. They are an amalgam of the best aspects of each genre.

To date, they have only released 2 albums but when it's actually boiled down, their first album, We Are Pilots, was released 3 times by different record labels.  Each time it was released the track listing was different and there were different amounts of songs each time. Carah Faye Charnow was the female vocalist on the first album and she is great.  She has amazing musicality and I love the earthiness of her voice.  I think my favorite track off the first album is "The Weather Girl" followed by "Rainy Monday".  Carah Faye is an awesome vocalist and seeing her in videos shows how much stage presence she has.

The direction the band went with the second album was just so different than the first album. It was more rock and roll than the first album.  There's nothing wrong with that at all, but if you were expecting to hear a similar sound, you would be disappointed.  Sisely Treasure is as different of a vocalist in comparison to Carah Faye as the sound is from album to album.  Where Carah Faye had a grounded quality to her voice, Sisely is just balls to the wall.  "Ghost Town", the second single hits the ground running and you have to keep up with it.  "Ricochet!" is another example of how the sound is just rock and roll.  Again, there's nothing wrong with the sound...it's just so different.  It's almost like two completely different bands.

After the second album, they recorded covers of Peter Schilling's "Major Tom" and Blue Oyster Cult's "Burning for You", both for commercials for the Lincoln MKZ and MKS respectively. Most people will recoginize their version of "Major Tom" from the commercial.

Shiny Toy Guns on the Web

http://www.shinytoyguns.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shinytoyguns
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/ShinyToyGunsVEVO
Twitter: @shinytoyguns