Chris Dahlen is a freelance writer for Pitchforkmedia.com, the Boston Phoenix, Signal to Noise, Paste, and The Wire (New Hampshire). His website is Save The Robot.

Choo Choo La Rouge– The Kind of Noise You Can’t Turn Down, [I’ll Be Out All Night]

Although Choo Choo La Rouge’s debut is rightly pegged as “intelligent indie pop,” thanks to the smart (though not horn-rimmed) lyrics and the grower hooks, this track which ends the record packs a deeper whallop: where frontman Vincent Scorziello has the indie pop trait of rarely letting down his guard, on this song his voice gapes in drawn-out, melodic ache, pretty on the first listen and downright enthralling by the fourth. This recently shushed a crowd at the Middle East when they opened for the Wrens, and when one guy at the front let out a whoop, Scorziello took a second to thank him - but you could tell he was still feeling the song.

[visit Choo Choo La Rouge’s website here, buy I’ll Be Out All Night here]

Milo Jones– Sandro and the French Guy, [Sassy Trax]

For a long time my favorite singer-songwriter in Boston, Milo sings ballads so sincerely that he can sell sentimentality without the need to wink; and the undercurrent of perversity - his last album, Sassy Trax includes a back-cover photo of Jones in the altogether, rendered in 3-D no less - only strengthens the romance. Although I almost posted his cover of Bobby Russell’s immortally schlocky “Honey,” this love song song, which Jones penned for his latest record, demonstrates his drawling sweetness as compellingly as anything he’s recorded.

[visit Milo Jones’ website here, buy Sassy Trax here]

Plasmids & Phages– Golden Age of Bacteriology, [Plasmids & Phages]

It’s time to wake up again with this cut from Portsmouth, NH skronk-jazz duo Plasmids & Phages. For such a small town, Portsmouth has an aggressive Providence-style noise scene, and Jeremy LeClair and Nate Horton of Plasmids & Phages form part of its core. On this, a short track from their self-titled debut, LeClair runs his sax through pedals and distortion to hammer against Horton’s drums, making a harshly electric, pummelling rhythm that leaves giant spaces for chaos. I’ve enjoyed catching these guys in multiple combos around town, especially at the Tong music night, which was held in the basement of a local barbeque restaurant. The “:51 Second Song Night,” where bands got on stage to play for exactly 51 seconds a piece (the results were recorded for radio ads), was the coolest experimental concert I caught last year. Who knew a town this small could draw this kind of stuff?

[e-mail Jeremy or Nate from the band for further information]