Coming off a four-year hiatus,
Shiny Toy Guns returned for III. After second vocalist
Sisely Treasure left the band to pursue solo endeavors,
We Are Pilots singer Carah Faye Charnow joined the fold alongside keyboardist
Jeremy Dawson, drummer
Mikey Martin, and frontman
Chad Petree. Charnow’s dance-diva vocals help take the big-budget production in a pop direction, further separating the band from their
Killers/
Franz Ferdinand dance rock reputation. Summertime club jams like "Waiting Alone" and "The Sun" are a distant cry from the dark undertones of 2008’s "Ricochet!" Strangely, III doesn’t sound like the work of a band at all.
Katy Perry would be a closer touchstone for most of the songs, although
Shiny Toy Guns have a few departures along the way, with "If I Lost You" and "Fading Listening" coming off like a mainstream version of chillwave, and the gentle piano ballad "Take Me Back to Where I Was" concluding the set. ~ Jason Lymangrover