Shiny Toy Guns release sophomore LP
Meghan Hole
Issue date: 11/18/08 Section: Arts & Society
On November 4, 2008, the Grammy-nominated band Shiny Toy Guns released their sophomore album Season of Poison. After hearing a few songs, one item is clearly missing-the unique techno-rock sound of their first album, We Are Pilots.
Granted, most bands sound different from album to album, but another key component in their first album is missing: Carah Charnow, the distinctive female vocalist on the first album. The new female vocalist is Sisely Treasure, formerly of Cooler Kids (she also appeared on the show The Pussycat Dolls: The Search for the Next Doll as one of the finalists). While Treasure may be a talented singer, her voice lacks the defined sound that Charnow offered.
During the past summer, the Shiny Toy Guns released a teaser song from the upcoming album, Season of Poison, entitled "Ricochet!" This song gave Shiny Toy Guns fans a hopeful future for the upcoming album, as "Ricochet!" sounded very similar to the music on the first album. By the time the song was released online, many people knew that Charnow was replaced by Treasure and were anxious to hear how Treasure would sound next to Chad Petree, Jeremy Dawson and Mikey Martin. In "Ricochet!" she seemed to be able to hold her own and perhaps add her own uniqueness to the band that Charnow previously brought.
However, upon listening to the rest of the CD, Treasure seems to fade into the electronica sound, and her voice seems too manipulated. Much of the CD also seems to be blending into the pop-rock sound that most band nowadays have. The third track on the CD, "I Owe You A Love Song," is slightly reminiscent of songs on We Are Pilots, but only because of the background techno feel. The nostalgic feeling from the song goes away during a key change about three-fourths of the way through, when it transforms from the Shiny Toy Guns into something Hellogoodbye might have produced.
The fourth track on the CD, "Ghost Town," almost transforms again from something that sounds like the Shiny Toy Guns into something else. When Treasure does a sort of rap/sing type of thing for the verses, she sounds very much like Gwen Stefani in "Hollaback Girl" or Avril Lavigne in "Girlfriend." I'm unsure if that is what they were aiming for.
The Shiny Toy Guns may have a new sound for most of the songs on Season of Poison, but one song on the CD is not so new: the tenth track on the CD, entitled "Turned to Real Life." Originally titled "Turn to Real Life," this song has been with the Shiny Toy Guns since 2005, when they released the first and second version of We Are Pilots. The song did not make it to the third and final version of the album.
Although not entirely unexpected, a new album and a new singer has completely changed the sound of the Shiny Toy Guns. A band that was once known for their originality in the music industry (as well as their dancelike electronic-rock-techno beats), the Shinys seem to have fallen in line with the rest of the pop-rock bands-and lost their creativity and originality in the process.
Granted, most bands sound different from album to album, but another key component in their first album is missing: Carah Charnow, the distinctive female vocalist on the first album. The new female vocalist is Sisely Treasure, formerly of Cooler Kids (she also appeared on the show The Pussycat Dolls: The Search for the Next Doll as one of the finalists). While Treasure may be a talented singer, her voice lacks the defined sound that Charnow offered.
During the past summer, the Shiny Toy Guns released a teaser song from the upcoming album, Season of Poison, entitled "Ricochet!" This song gave Shiny Toy Guns fans a hopeful future for the upcoming album, as "Ricochet!" sounded very similar to the music on the first album. By the time the song was released online, many people knew that Charnow was replaced by Treasure and were anxious to hear how Treasure would sound next to Chad Petree, Jeremy Dawson and Mikey Martin. In "Ricochet!" she seemed to be able to hold her own and perhaps add her own uniqueness to the band that Charnow previously brought.
However, upon listening to the rest of the CD, Treasure seems to fade into the electronica sound, and her voice seems too manipulated. Much of the CD also seems to be blending into the pop-rock sound that most band nowadays have. The third track on the CD, "I Owe You A Love Song," is slightly reminiscent of songs on We Are Pilots, but only because of the background techno feel. The nostalgic feeling from the song goes away during a key change about three-fourths of the way through, when it transforms from the Shiny Toy Guns into something Hellogoodbye might have produced.
The fourth track on the CD, "Ghost Town," almost transforms again from something that sounds like the Shiny Toy Guns into something else. When Treasure does a sort of rap/sing type of thing for the verses, she sounds very much like Gwen Stefani in "Hollaback Girl" or Avril Lavigne in "Girlfriend." I'm unsure if that is what they were aiming for.
The Shiny Toy Guns may have a new sound for most of the songs on Season of Poison, but one song on the CD is not so new: the tenth track on the CD, entitled "Turned to Real Life." Originally titled "Turn to Real Life," this song has been with the Shiny Toy Guns since 2005, when they released the first and second version of We Are Pilots. The song did not make it to the third and final version of the album.
Although not entirely unexpected, a new album and a new singer has completely changed the sound of the Shiny Toy Guns. A band that was once known for their originality in the music industry (as well as their dancelike electronic-rock-techno beats), the Shinys seem to have fallen in line with the rest of the pop-rock bands-and lost their creativity and originality in the process.
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