Today's featured shit

Marklar is where those aliens on South Park that worked for Fognl were from. “Parplar” is the new album from Larkin Grimm. It has 15 tracks of Parplastic glory.

The rep says it’s for fans of CocoRosie. I just don’t get it. The songwriting is definitely the strength, as indicated on “Hope for the Hopeless” and “Ride That Cyclone.” And you can’t go wrong with a song called “Anger in Your Liver.” How did she know?

The Yale alum has pipes when she wants to. The album leads off with “They Were Wrong,” and if she’d stick to this more melodic style of singing, she’d be all right. I think she is one of those ex-child prodigies who is so convinced of her abilities (and rightfully so) that she tries to mess around too much and see how much she can dumb herself down and still sound good.

She tries to sound like Barbara Manning on “Blond and Golden Johns.” Manning is a legend, and I am sure she’s flattered. I think that her strength lies in an airier sound, however. The title track has keyboards and is another possible direction for her to go in, although the vocals get a bit shrill.

I am not going to lie. I decided to review this CD because Corrin Campbell looks like a 16-year-old version of Kat Dennings. There, I said it.

It also turns out that she played in the band in the Army. So did my dad, although I have trouble envisioning her carrying a tuba around. And it turns out she is from Wisconsin, so I am sure she would sound great even just reading the phone book.

So anyway, now that I have finished objectifying her, this six-track EP is a standard female-fronted rock album. The music is a little unimaginative, but the songwriting and melodies are notable. Not knowing keys, I am unclear whether “Friend in D” is performed in D, but regardless, it is a fun rock song, if a bit dated.

“Cast It Off” would sound better as a piano-only recording, a la Vanessa Carlton in many of her songs. The drums get in the way and sound as if they are from “Through Your Eyes,” a track that only features piano but should take on additional accompaniment. When she plays live, “Cast It Off” should be one of the titles she plays so she can leave a lasting memory.

“Shame” puts it all together. Good storytelling songwriting, a non-distracting beat and a nice collection of musical work. “Keep Movin'” has a great mid-90s power pop feel to it. Where has this been the entire EP, and why is this the last song?

The EP seems to be a compilation of different stages of her career, and this costs it its cohesion. It is unclear where Campbell is going in her music endeavors, but hopefully the EP is chronological, meaning the last two tracks will give us a sign of what’s to come.

Not since Des’ree told us “I Ain’t Movin'” have we been notified of an artist’s whereabouts so specifically. This five-track EP seems short, considering that if she really isn’t goin’ anywhere then why couldn’t she record a full-length album in the process.

“Runaway” leads off, and it sounds as if she is singing into a megaphone, but it’s really clear that she isn’t. It sounds like that upbeat Christian rock you hear when you are scanning the lower end of the FM dial, looking for a good college station to listen to while on a road trip. (When you’re here, of course, scan a little higher, perhaps around 103.3.)

“Stay Here” is more of the same. It’s very slick and overproduced but not in the good Foo Fighters way. “Come Away” sounds like an Evanescence ripoff. There’s nothing wrong with having a mainstream pop sound, but if you’re going for pop it should not be a free pass to sing with no heart, although to be fair I wouldn’t know if she sang with heart because the producers took everything out. It’s like buying bleached flour. It is nothing like actual wheat.

“Will You Ever Change” is the single. It has to be. The tempo is different from the other tracks. The lyrics have some semblance of meaning. She sounds rejuvenated. She’s wearing the Colbie Caillat hat.

It ends with “Here’s to You My Friend,” a title that really needs a comma in it. This song is destined for a movie soundtrack, playing in the background during a forgotten scene in which the teenage girl protagonist changes her Facebook status message with tears in her eyes.
I don’t understand the point.

This is a compilation of electronic music. Centipede is first. Their song “Save Your Cool Soul” is stripped down and fun, although the lead singer sounds as if she is trying to be Madonna, which will make a lot of people happy, but not me.

Baconflex have Erasure vocals and Book of Love synths on “Jupiter Boy.” If they had called it “Jupiter Boy Pop,” they would have had me hooked. It’s still a good song with a modern feel. Violedy have a more early ’90s feel with “Claymore.” It sounds like something Sweetheart would do, or U2, I guess.

Fewfuzz gives us “Speak Love Tonight,” and it sounds like something you would play at an East San Jose high school dance to keep people from fighting over colors. The chorus goes “We are here to have some fun” and repeats itself many times. The music reminds me a bit of Robert Miles.

“I Got You” by Perfect North reminds me of Daft Punk or Information Society. “Something Strong” by Common Party sounds like Bauhaus. I mean, it REALLY sounds like Bauhaus. “Immersive” by Arco has a Beatmania IIdx feel to it. The kids call it “trance.”

Another reggae song about pot. This is a two-track single, whose B-side is the instrumental version of the song. I heard that these are now called “karaoke” versions. Whatever.

This is a classic “you already know whether you like this song” song.

No, not En Esch. Bang! Bang! Eche! They are from New Zealand. Old people will hear the keyboards and think of The Police. Kids will hear the same thing and think of The Killers. For once everyone is correct. It’s definitely not a unique sound, but it is of fill-in quality for what’s popular these days.

It’s a five-track EP, self-titled. “4 to the Floor” leads off quietly, a little bit Flock of Seagulls, a little bit David Bowie. “Time Mismanagement” has a bit of a Panic at the Disco feel to it. It’s a very likable song.

The guitar in “Nikee” has a bit of an Operation Makeout feel to it. Maybe if Jesse had spent more time singing in that act then this song would sound more like them. “(You & Me) as Thick as Thieves” sounds like a post-modern Talking Heads song, although the David Byrne portion of this analogy is not apt. Is this what they mean by shoegazer? “Fingers in the Till” is not about the BASH superstar of the same name. That’s Andrew Till. This song has a more electronic feel.

A band that does nothing but remind you of other acts is not remarkable, but never boring, either. This proves no exception.

Sea Sick needs a dictionary to show that “seasick” is one word and a lead singer to show that good guitar and drums are not sufficient to make a quality three-piece.

The lead singer wails too much all the time. She thinks she is the lead singer of Sleater-Kinney. She is not. “Radiant Heat” is one of several examples on this seven-track monstrosity.

“Black Cat” is a great name, and she almost, ALMOST, sounds like Kristin Hersh here. I could only hope. It’s really a shame that the best track on the album is buried at the end where no one will hear it.

“XX” has an electronic feel to it and also is worth a listen. Everything else on the album, though, is the bad half of Bob Marley and the Wailers.

This is the kind of stuff they must have listened to in the ’60s, when everyone was so wacked out of their gourd that everything sounded like the Beatles. This is shitty, and there’s nothing clever about the name.

This is a refreshing take on a lot of early and mid-80s female rock ‘n’ roll, with a bit of mid-90s influence as well. Killola lead off with “This Is How the World Ends,” and it sounds like a Pat Benatar cover with Veruca Salt backing vocals.

“Strung Out on Sunshine” might be continuing the theme with a vague reference to “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina & the Waves. I don’t know. The music sounds more like a Republica B-side, but the vocals again remind one of that Joan Jett ’80s style, or perhaps a more talented Courtney Love.

“Is This a Love Song” shows that this band can sound like any era’s best, with music reminiscent of both Pretty Girls Make Graves and The Go-Go’s. I didn’t even know that this was possible.

“Personal Graveyard” lets the band take on a sound a little more unique to itself, a real driving rock anthem. Add it all up, and you get a band that at worst is a guilty pleasure or at best gives you an excuse to grow a mullet so you can be cool when you see them perform live.

A bunch of catchy tunes here. Gringo Star aren’t just a clever name. “All Y’all” offers 14 tracks of poppy hooks and mid-’90s alt rock guitars.

“Up and Down” has a driving Britpop sound. I can picture Edwyn Collins doing something like this. “TransMission” is a little whiny, but it has the same style. I guess really the entire album features this same presentation of wah wah and back and forth jangly guitar.

If you want some piano, then focus on the waltz called “All Day Long.” It’s pretty clear that Gringo Star want people to think of the Beatles when they put out tracks such as this one.

“Eve of Your Expression” has a Saturday afternoon John Cougar Mellencamp feel to it. Despite the songs having a similar makeup, they do have definite personalities.

What can be said? It’s Lou Reed. The former Velvet Underground frontman pays homage to his former mates with a performance of “Sweet Jane” that’s very easy on the ears.

Like any live album from a legend, you have to find the songs that sound better than usual. A good example is “The Kids.” This song comes complete with crying kids in the background. Both parts of “Caroline Says” are good, but the second part showcases Reed’s voice at its best.

The title track is met with hoots and hollers (the good kind) as the piano plays its way into the song. Shorter than most of the tracks, it is certainly not without its substance.

Pick your favorite track from the original “Berlin” and listen to it played here, 33 years later. This album is as advertised, and that’s a good thing.