Star Wars & Other Galactic Funk

There's something so apt about the band name chosen by Chad Petree and his Shiny Toy Guns playmates. Synth-driven, bright, and relentlessly safe, the plastic pop sound on We Are Pilots references the '80s even more explicitly than the Duran Duran-loving Killers. But despite the occasional chirpy electro (most directly referenced in "Le Disko") and the Human League makeup it's intensely modern, closer to emo than New Wave. The band's debut features a two-vocal combination, with Petree's young-man-in-love tenor rubbing up against Carah Faye's artier edge; she gives a song like "Jackie Will Save Me" a bratty boost. But more often, the band's peppy tragedies ("Chemistry of a Car Crash") and pretty heartaches ("Waiting") sound too tailored for alternative radio. The glossy production sheen, flawless execution, and overall glitz, however, make it easy to forget they're essentially just a tarted-up pop pastiche. In the midst of a quick, passionate fling, you could care less how meaningless and disposable it is... you just know it's hot. Your relationship with Shiny Toy Guns may be a similarly brief--if intense--affair, but you'll always have those first three or four listens. --Matthew Cooke

Price: $9.98

Click here to buy from Amazon