Coles Whalen

Folks exclusively interested in original sounds should avoid this EP. Singer-songwriter Whalen, who appears with Shannon Curfman on Thursday, August 9, at the Walnut Room, specializes in the tried-and-true, and if a single note on her latest is unique to her, it's well hidden. Nevertheless, the six songs here are so polished, professional and effective that they usually work anyway.

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More About

• Singer-song Whalen
• Christopher Jak
• Shannon Curfman
• Television
• Reality Shows

Whalen's voice has a bit more personality than the average American Idol semi-finalist, Christopher Jak's production is free of extraneous aural goop, and most of the material sports at least one hook capable of lodging in ear canals. Such catchiness isn't always a positive; "So It Is" and "Honeyed Out" represent opposite sides of the same cheese log. But "Call on Me," "How Do You Do This to Me" and "The Getting Side" are lush, poppy and/or jaunty enough to overcome their familiarity.

Nothing Is Too Much is nothing new — and in this case, that's okay.