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Choo Choo La
Rouge: I'll Be out All Night
Im starting to feel like a jaded music critic. Yup one of those people who compete with fraudulent corporate executives from Enron for the title of the most despicable life form on the planet. One of those people that has an urge to slag off an album just because it sounds like a watered down version of a million other bands theyve already heard. But somethings different here. Choo Choo La Rouge arent pop-punk posers or musically inept jam band cover artists. Instead, they seem like a nice enough band, carelessly writing unassuming indie-rock songs. Wasnt the whole idea of indie-rock to sort of narcissistically make music for yourself and ignore other peoples critical opinions, anyway? If so, then why does this release inspire such anger in me when Choo Choo La Rouge is just playing by the rules? I guess Im just getting sick of the direction indie music is going. Its too damn easy to release a CD nowadays, and it seems like everybody and their mothers pet dogs chew toy thinks theyll be the next Guided By Voices when they do. That do it yourself spirit begins to lose some of its appeal when you hear songs like Closer and the lines a long, long time away, gets closer everyday delivered in a nasally whine with very unimaginative pop guitar riffs. Are the bop bop ba da bah lyrics that open Black Sheep supposed to be ironic or something? Like a confused Simpsons character at a Lollapalooza show, I dont even know anymore. Yet theres nothing musically offensive here if you ignore some of the less effective lyrics. Its just that Choo Choo La Rouge seem like such an unnecessary addition to an already overflowing group of artists that add nothing to the musical context of the world. And to make matters worse, the Indie Rock Rulebook permits you to sing notes horrendously out of key at times on songs like Try Using Science and She is A Bomb. I apologize for using this release to whine and mope about trends, because that is unfair treatment for any artist. Choo Choo La Rouge doesnt make the trends; they just make music, and every now and then, it almost sounds good. I Had A Vision is a decent enough track, and if I lived near Boston and if I saw them live, and if Id had quite a few drinks I could probably even enjoy them a bit. Perhaps a song like Sinkhole might remind me of The Modern Lovers Roadrunner in such a hypothetical situation. I just cant for the life of me think of a reason why anybody would need to add this album to their collection when there are so many better rock albums already out there. So in true indie rock fashion, I wish Choo Choo La Rouge luck as they do their own thing, and you never know what twists the future may have in store for a couple of open-minded musicians. As for you, I suggest approaching Ill Be out All Night with due caution.
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