Shiny Toy Guns

Thursday, June 28 by Dan Lo

Shiny Toy Guns is an indie rock/electronica band from Los Angeles, altho that doesn't even begin to do their wide scope of styles any justice. Randomly pick 3 songs from their latest album We Are Pilots and chances are they won't sound like they came from the same artist, let alone album.

The band was formed in 2002 by Jeremy Dawson (bass/keyboard) and Chad Petree (vocals), and presently also includes Mikey Martin on drums and Carah Faye Charnow on vocals. The songs on We Are Pilots feature a somewhat even distribution of one vocalist or another, or both on the same track, further adding to their diverse styles.

While a lot of their songs admittedly have synth-sounding elements to them (from occasional subtle reverb effects to all-out no holds barred foot-stomping dance beats), you will be much more likely to confuse Petree's vocals with Billie Joe Armstrong's or Deryck Whibley's than with Andy Bell's or Neil Tennant's. Sounds like an odd compromise, but it works. At least for me.

Chemistry of a Car Crash - My favorite track, and ironically also happens to be the most deviant from my usual tastes. If you can only be bothered to listen to one song, try this one. I know you guys are a tough crowd.

You Are The One - Opening track of the album, so you know the band is putting their best foot forward on this one. It's got high energy, whilst refraining from going down the dance beat route.

Rainy Monday - A little dancey, but worth checking out IMHO.

2 Comments:

Blogger JR said...

i just listened to their song ('starts with one') on one of my experimental mix cds while driving back from ktown karaoke. i couldnt remember the artist, but i always felt like there was something offbeat about this indie rock group haha. no wonder! i couldnt put my finger on it - i liked the opening guitar/vocals and the drums, but the electronica stuff was unusual to me even tho it drove the song forward...guess it was subtle enough for me to like. so sneaky!

6/29/2007 2:53 AM

 
Blogger ernie said...

a bit poppy but thats not always a bad thing. overall a good sound. i think i like them. if i pick and choose a little.

6/30/2007 2:16 AM

 

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