Can I interest you in some Shiny Toy Guns?

What do you get when you have European techno pop infused with brit-pop/rock?

Shiny Toy Guns.

In the last few decades music genres have become a bit blurry. Shiny Toy Guns fits into all the genres mentioned above, but the finished product gels so well that it becomes a genre of its own. The electro-pop/rock of Shiny Toy Guns is exceptional because it is not repetitive. Each song on their debut "We Are Pilots" brings something new to the table, every track is decidedly different from the last.



"We Are Pilots" may sound like different bands throughout the record, yet it has a seemingly complete feeling as an album. That is a feat not many have achieved, let alone on a debut album. With both male and female vocals, the group expands boundaries. Some tracks are duets between Chad Petree and Carah Charnow and others feature only either of their voices which creates an interesting listening experience. Few bands have blended electronica and rock this well without having 12-minute tracks.

Tracks of note:

Track 1 "You Are The One" is a duet with heavy synth but with rock sensibility. It is a masterfully produced track (as all of the songs on the record are) that may leave the casual listener with a false idea of the rest of the band's catalogue. Until the next track explodes through the speakers.

Track 2 "Le Disko" is vocally dominated by Charnow with a jumpy beat and melody that makes it one of the most effective electro-rock/pop tracks ever created. The song has a magnificent build: it stops exactly when it needs to, it grasps the listener with mounting intensity and the bridge is significantly different than the rest of the song (keeping it interesting). And just when the listener might think they understand where the album is going, the next track begins.

Track 3 "Starts With One" takes a darker turn by taking a moodier, more impacting sound with anthemic guitar riffs and a very effective synth string section. Petree's voice carries the melody with a sense of longing and intimacy that is remarkable for the large sound of the track. This is easily the best song off the album.

Track 5 "Don't Cry Out" features Charnow's voice prominently yet it sounds different than in previous songs. (Except for maybe the brilliant bridge of "Le Disko".) It's an electronic/pop ballad that works very well yet is not up to par with the first three gems of the album.

Track 7 "Waiting" sounds like it was ripped out of the 1980's. The distortion on Petree's voice and the slow, driving synth (along with ambient noises) in the song make it a stand out that makes it a definite take-it-or-leave-it track. I chose to take it and it worked out marvellously for me.

Track 8 "Rainy Monday" is pure, unadulterated pop music. It sounds like a hit song from a soundtrack from a 1990's movie. Take that as you may.

Track 10 "Shaken" takes a while to pick up, but when it does it reaches the status of one of the most haunting and memorable tracks on the album with numerous throwbacks to 80s power-ballads.

Download:

Starts With One,

Le Disko,

You Are the One,

Shaken

Can it be midnight, now?

Linkin Park is not really a band known for quality music. But they are known for infectious melodies and ready-made rap interludes with electro-DJ-Rock as backing music. So what happens when they dump the nu-metal and run with super-producer Rick Rubin?

You'd think a great album. You'd be terrifically wrong.

So, what does the new Linkin Park sound like? I don't think they even know. Minutes To Midnight, their third album in the last 7 years, sounds like a badly put together mix CD of crappy bands. From one song teetering on the verge of turning into a Rob/White Zombie imitation band to the next which sounds like Nick Lachey turned rock (with even worse vocals) [that, or the horrible praise rock that is popular in Protestant circles]. In their last two efforts they had masterfully blended different genres to a polished, radio-friendly product. A fact that made them an interesting band to listen to. But that is exactly what is lacking.

My second concern with this album is the overwhelming amount of bad politics surrounding it. I think artists should stick to their trade. They should make meaningful music about their personal struggles, because I believe art can be a form of therapy. Linkin Park does not do this even marginally well. Artists like this influence the young populace in America. If they make a blatant statement about their stance on a certain political issue they should first spend some time studying how this country works and what the facts are about the issues they are writing about. I do not know the extent that this band has in studying international politics and United States policy but I doubt, because of their career, that they are in the position to address them. Minutes to Midnight is littered with references to the Iraq War and the disaster in New Orleans. No matter what partisan side Linkin Park falls under, they should keep politics out of their mostly-introverted music.

Third, the lyrics on this album have come from mediocre to terrible. In the song "Valentine's Day" the lyrics follow that of bad poetry written by a 15 year old on MySpace.

Shown here:

And the clouds above move closer

Looking so dissatisfied

And the ground below grew colder

As they put you down inside

But the heartless wind kept blowing, blowing

So now you're gone, and I was wrong

I never knew what it was like, to be alone

On a Valentine's Day!

The last line is repeated as a ready-made chorus with Linkin Park's signiture power chords playing under it. I was driving with my girlfriend when we were listening to this song for the first time and once the "chorus" hit we looked at each other and started laughing. Chester sings it with such passion and without any sense of irony that it is hard to take him seriously.

I am very unimpressed with this album. Linkin Park has begun to take themselves too seriously in an ineffective new sound. The new album title might be appropriate, not for the world (like they mean) but for the life of the band.

Download (Only if you must):
"What I've Done" and "The Little Things Give You Away"
-these are the best two tracks on the album, and "What I've Done" is the better of the two.

The Bird and the Worm

I used to like The Used. When their first single, 2002's "Box Full of Sharp Objects", hit the airwaves I immediately ran out to the record store. Soon after, I found their self-titled debut to be one of the albums with the highest rotation in my collection.

However, the music I listened to in high school was definitely not what one would call "top quality." Five years later I find that I had lumped the album with the likes of Rufio and other bands I care not to name; my section of guilty pleasures and nostalgic bands.

A couple weeks ago, my friend and I were listening to my iPod on shuffle and a song by The Used came on. As I reached for the "next" button he stopped me and told me that he hadn't heard the song in a while and that he was, like me, once infatuated with the band. So we listened and sang along and even tried to scream along. Not much later we were listening to the whole album. As it ended we decided to give the sophomore album "In Love and Death" a spin. Let's just say it was a short one. I figured that it was simply because we had no nostalgia for the album and because we didn't listen to it quite as much as we did the first. That, or it was simply a worse album. It nonetheless put the band back in my mind.

What had happened to The Used? I knew the goings-on of their brother band My Chemical Romance, who I still listen to, but nothing about The Used. So, I wikied them. According to Wikipedia, the band had an album set for release on May 22 of this year entitled "Lies for the Liars". The lead single, "The Bird and the Worm" had been released in late March. For the sake of keeping up with the band I listened to the single. I, honestly, wasn't expecting much. I expected loud guitars and Bert switching from singing to screaming fairly often, the typical Used single. I am happy to say I was wrong to think that.

The first few seconds made me think that I was listening to a piece from a Danny Elfman soundtrack. Low, driving strings and the sound of a creaking door provide a lead-in to Bert's voice, then the guitars kick in. I was surprised to hear the strings come in again throughout the song, and prominently, too. Not only are the strings heavy, but there is an epic-sounding choir which adds a gothic and menacing air to the song. Even more surprising is that the lyrics are interesting, too. They point to a fear of rejection that cripples some people. They're dark and Bert's singing makes them sound even brutal. "The Bird and the Worm" is an extremely well-layered symphonic piece of rock music.

I now find myself looking forward to the May 22 release of "Lies for the Liars". I think I'm infatuated... Again.

Download the song. You'll hear what I mean.

Follow the link:
The Used - "The Bird and the Worm"