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.