Live
< Shiny Toy Guns @ Islington Academy
words by Luke Liles
pics by
As soon as the lights dim and a wall of sound hits the audience, you know that the people here tonight are in for something special. Shiny Toy Guns - a four piece from LA - delve into the sort of music that is, if possible, almost too popular right now. However frequent you may gig, Shiny Toy Guns would have stood out tonight, their music provoking mass sing-alongs and an almost euphoric experience of dancing in unison. Which, considering how little the band are known in this country (their only release that you may have heard is the imported ‘We Are Pilots’), is undeniably astounding.
It would be easy to lump this band in with the rest of the new-wave elctronica/metal pretenders at the moment but Shiny Toy Guns know how to work this genre and twist it into new exciting ways to get people keyed up about music again. This is evident in tonight’s set with the sure-fire smash of ‘Le Disko’, one of the songs of the year and the undoubted highlight of the set, making you feel dirty with co-singer Carah Faye strutting across the tiny stage.
Guitarist (and vocalist number 2) John meanwhile is a bonafide frontman when piping out the melodic ‘Starts with One’, ‘Rainy Monday’ and ‘Rocketship’, all of which are true foot stomper’s.
Shiny Toy Guns breath new life into their songs when played live, they give it a raw energy which is backed up with their musical diversity - Carah and bassist Jeremy Dawson switch synths on a number of occasions, backed by the pounding rhythm of war paint donning drummer Mikey Martin.
As the sold out audience resembles an old skool rave tonight, jumping and throbbing with enthusiasm, it is clear that they are falling in love with surely one of next year’s breakthrough acts.
Originally appeared in volume 1, issue 18 of Loud & Quiet magazine
