We Are Pilots

Shiny Toy Guns sounds like a band being pulled in two directions. Half of this album sounds like honest-to-goodness electronica, complete with a quick 4/4 stripper pole beat and rich buzzing synthesizers. It's a formula that really works for them, as evidenced by their nomination for a Grammy for best Electronica album in 2008. Other songs on the album, though remaining in the realm of electronica, stray from the traditional formula, and sound kind of like a poor man's Killers, from their first CD, "Hot Fuzz."

It is notable that, on many of the more dancier songs like "You are the One" or "Don't Cry Out," singer Carah Faye Charnow sings more than she does on the lesser songs on the album, like "Starts with One," where Chad Petree does most of the singing. It suggests that Carah Faye brought more of the techno influence to the group; this supposition is bolstered by the fact that the group's sophomore album, which definitely takes on a more rock n' roll sound, replaces Carah with a new female singer. It is a shame, because the sound that results sounds distracted. It has elements of Rock and elements of Techno, but not in the proper proportions, or used in the right ways. When STG is focused on making dance electronica, they are fantastic, catchy, and even touching at points. Hopefully Carah Faye, whom I suspect to have brought that sound to the band, will go on to create a band with a similar sound.