October 24th, 2012 
Grace Duffy 
Artist: Shiny Toy Guns
Album: III
Genre: Synth-pop, electro-pop
Label: Five Seven Music
After some awkward backlashes to their previous record Season of Poison, Shiny Toy Gun’s III – their third album, fittingly enough – is a more positive encouraging step for the band. It’s not a perfect album, or even all that exceptional, but it has a searing and consistent atmosphere that gives it presence and intrigue. It’s not exactly what one would describe as charming – the electro-pop and synth nature of Shiny Toy Guns’ music is perhaps more properly described as alluring. But this sense of the unknown, of otherworldly and effervescent musical realms and shimmering instrumentation, is more than enough to stimulate interest and, at its heights, captivate the listener.
III is incredible self-absorbed from a lyrical perspective. This is not to say that’s a bad thing – merely that the words are intensely introverted and often describe very overpowering emotions, though in such a numbed, deadened style and surrounds that it’s quite surreal. The upheaval in the band’s line-up and female vocalist Carah Faye Charnow’s personal life in particular may have contributed to this; an air of isolation and deep contemplation that wafts delicately throughout the songs. This is evident in the opening double whammy of “Somewhere to Hide” and “Waiting Alone.” The former is a romanticised odyssey, teaming with ethereal symphonic effects and wonder, but the electronics evoke something intrusive and the shadow of a pursuer. Charnow sings with particular conviction and appears at once consumed and rapturous, contributing to a song that is as rabidly alive as it is aloft. “Waiting Alone” is potentially divisive. The words tread a fine line between asinine and affecting, with much depending on Charnow and male co-vocalist Gregori Chad Petree’s delivery. Charnow’s leading, diaphanous take is backed up by a more natural, real echo of herself, while Petree offers more harried and frustrated tones. The sentiment seems cold and bitter – the theme one of seclusion within a world of leering uncertainty. This track is perhaps missing a real emotional punch, as the plethora of backing effects detracts from what’s at its core, but in further evoking the sense of grieving stillness it’s completely effective and quite striking.
The flip side of this is that the music can sound repetitious and even vacuous, but overall the album’s space is well-created. The notion of being lost amidst one’s own thoughts and the insubstantial is vivid and absorbing. It invites the listener to explore this world for themselves, unearthing secrets and unveiling myths. One of the more intriguing additions is “Wait For Me,” the opening minute or so of which is just Charnow whispering softly to herself, while intermittent strains of string music rise and fall in her midst. As one of the longer songs on III, it seizes the opportunity to be a touch more experimental and introduces different sweeping sections of music throughout its near six-minute running time. It becomes more animate in the middle, while the use of a guitar and sweeping strings bring it to a jubilant crescendo at the end.
Amidst all these floaty odes, some faster songs are much-needed to add shape and purpose. In that sense, Shiny Toy Guns oblige, but not as often as they should. “Speaking Japanese” seems to hark from a different session altogether, so dramatically alive and involving are its rhythmic tones. It seems this one dates from 2010, although I’m not sure if it’s been since altered or updated. It presents a contrast to the rest of III and reminds one of the engagement and shrill electricity coursing intermittently beneath the drifting ambience. “Carrie” shakes up its sound in its chorus, reverting from something weightless to something more upfront and emphatic. It has a cold tangibility from the outset, but it is the chorus that provides a brusque, blunt power. “Mercy” is a surprisingly feral inclusion also – eerily poignant, remote and desolate, it endures for its richness and mysteriousness, and the beguilingly haunted air that lingers throughout.
III certainly leaves something promising in its wake, though it is an album not without problems. Its dulcet environs wear thin after a time, so that attentions may lapse by the time the album reaches its conclusion. The lack of really vigorous, involving songs – bar the above notable exceptions – may contribute to this, although it does, at the same time, ensure III is consistently meditative and dreamy. All in all, this is pretty and enjoyable, offering sublime escapism and more high points than lows.
SCORE: 7/10
Review written by Grace Duffy
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