Choo Choo La Rouge

Choo Choo La Rouge, named after a section of railway in Boston is an interesting proposition. Having been together for a decade this is a band that's seen and done it all without ever being corrupted by the music industry machine. They're an honest bunch who quite simply want to do nothing but play rock and roll. Part beat pop and part power pop, this is a band that's as comfortable in a garage as it is on the big stage and their album Black Clouds is the perfect expression of this.

Sounding a bit like the Replacements if they never left their rehearsal spot up north, Choo Choo La Rouge are clearly in touch with their rock and roll roots and are unafraid to show it. At times sounding as if they were to lazy to roll out of bed and at others so motivated they have a hard time sitting still this is a band that clearly has a Jekyll and Hyde complex. That's usually a bad thing, but in the case of Choo Choo, the band uses their ability to be both lazy and hyper to their advantage by perfectly balancing Black Clouds. As a result of this Black Clouds is a very listenable album that sounds like the best garage rock album your band never recorded.

Black Clouds might be a bit under produced and a bit unpolished but the Choo Choo's earnestness and purity carries them across the finish line. Black Clouds is plain and simple rock and roll with a little bit of country and a little bit of oomph. From the hyper, "Here Come the Guns," to the strummy jangle of "It's Gonna Happen Fast," Choo Choo La Rouge wear their love of a good tune on their sleeves. After ten years together and a massive songbook, it's good to know that Choo Choo La Rouge still have their feet and egos firmly planted on the ground ; honest rock and roll hasn't sounded this good in a while.