Shiny Toy Guns lock and load with a new singer on its sophomore release

By Selena Fragassi
Published: November 4th, 2008 | 1:50pm

In August 2008, electro-pop-rock outfit Shiny Toy Guns announced the addition of 28-year-old Sisely Treasure as the new female vocalist on the band’s eagerly-awaited sophomore album, Season of Poison (Universal Motown).

A professional choreographer, bassist, guitarist, pianist, and lyricist best known for her work in the group Cooler Kids and as the sore thumb contestant on The Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search For The Next Doll, Treasure was just the latest to be cast in the female lead, alongside drummer Mikey Martin and founding members bassist-keyboardist Jeremy Dawson and guitarist-vocalist Chad Petree, who formed the band in Shawnee, Oklahoma, in 2002.

Before Treasure, the job was held by inaugural member Ursula Vari, who was fired in 2004, and the fan favorite Carah Faye Charnow, who abruptly separated from the band earlier this year after being part of its commercial success and Grammy nomination for their label debut, We are Pilots.

“We knew that there was no way we were going to do this [band] unless we had two lead singers — two equal lead singers — to finish the spectrum of the yin and the yang, the black and the white, the boy and the girl. That way, we could reach the full potential of the songs the way they were intended to be executed,” explains Dawson of the importance of the male-female duality and the necessary hire of Charnow's replacement — a move that was not met without criticism.

As the most visible female player of Shiny Toy Guns’ short history, Charnow had become revered by fans, who were quick to show their disappointment in the breaking news and began pointing fingers at possible conspiracy theories for her quick departure. For her part, Charnow writes, “the boys decided to move on without me,” while Dawson insists all remains amicable: “Carah moved to Sweden and has a band now with some great material,” he says. “We’re all buds and there’s no issue. She’s at that point of excitement where she’s writing, and composing, and being a leader in her own band.”

For Dawson, though, his long-time friend was not just a replacement, but rather the girl he had set his sights on from the beginning when he and Petree had rough cuts of tracks that needed the female touch. “I was friends with Sisely from being a DJ and a fan of Cooler Kids,” he says. “I remember walking up to her at a show and saying, ‘Check out my demo.’ It was a very L.A. thing to say.” Treasure’s interest was piqued, but a major label contract held her off from pursuing the collaboration any further.

In the interim, Treasure remained friends with the band and found herself in England as the Shiny Toys Guns found themselves climbing the U.S. charts off the success of singles like “You are the One” and “Le Disko,” the latter of which was dominating the airwaves in everything from a Motorola commercial to a Dancing with the Stars promo.

By the time Shiny Toy Guns was ready for Treasure, it was almost too late, as her overseas venture left her with a five-track demo that was being shopped for another major record deal. “By the time I called her,” says Dawson, “she was at IKEA buying a bed for her new apartment to go take a nap in before she went to showcase for five major British record labels.”

At first, the thought of flying out to Oklahoma seemed nonsensical, but it didn't take much convincing for Treasure to make the decision to move. “She’s crazy like that,” says Dawson. “But having another crazy person like that in the band has made us sharper, more defined, and more intense.”

And if the first single, “Ricochet!,” is any indication, Dawson's assessment is right on the money. The buzz track shows Treasure’s ability to marry her vocals with that of Petree for a bolder, brasher style that divorces the band from its established ‘80s electro kick to conceive a edgier rock persona.

“We never got a chance to have a song where we could turn our amps up on 11, and scream, and just have fun,” says Dawson. “We’d tour with all these rock bands and get up on stage with 7,000 keyboards and 98 tracks of electronic equipment. And we were like, ‘We’re rock kids, too!’ And that’s how ‘Ricochet!’ was born, to have that part of our brains out too, instead of being only dance-y and electronic.”

The evolution is a big credit to Treasure whose previous experience as a Pussycat Doll contestant should not fool you. According to Dawson, “Sisely brings more of a Joan Jett, Blondie style,” he says. “That sort of kick-ass, punk-rock, on-fire intensity …. This is a girl who can do a back handspring off a bass stand with a mic in her hand and land on one foot.”
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