Last to Run

The Pineapple Thief

This outta nowhere EP, following last January’s full-length and excellent “It Leads to This,” comes just in time for rare appearances by The Pineapple Thief on American concert stages (including shows Saturday in NYC and Sunday in Somerville, Mass.) As it turns out, while the material is instantly identifiable at TPT — one of the best bands in the world — none of the tunes are, on first listen, what I’d consider A-list. They’re certainly pleasant, with leader Bruce Soord’s yearning voice and a melancholic tone punctuated by hyper-precise musicians and dynamic arrangements. It’s always great to have a new Pineapple Thief product, but I have to wonder if the songs on “Last to Run” were left off “It Leads to This” for a reason.

— Rick Koster

St. Denis Medical

8 p.m. Tuesdays, NBC

There’s a difference between paying homage to an inspiration and outright copying that inspiration. “St. Denis Medical” does the latter. The new sitcom makes me think a lot about “The Office.” It’s not just the workplace setting and the wacky cast of characters and the mockumentary format that feel familiar. It’s the actual way that actors speak lines and the way that certain scenes are shot; it’s all very Dunder Mifflin circa 2010. The show was created by Eric Ledgin and Justin Spitzer, the latter of whom worked on “The Office,” so he comes by his Office-ness honestly. But what “St. Denis Medical” needs to do is develop its own character and its own sense of self. It certainly has good actors to work with. The cast is led by David Alan Grier and Wendy McLendon-Covey and Allison Tolman — all of whom are comedy MVPs. And the setting of a hospital that could use more funding and more staff is rich with possibilities. “St. Denis Medical” just needs to step out of “The Office’s” shadow.

— Kristina Dorsey

Memorials

Richard Chizmar

Chizmar has slowly climbed to justified superstar status in the horror genre. He’s the publisher of Cemetery Dance, the New Yorker of supernatural fiction; worked with Stephen King on the “Gwendy’s” novels; and came into his own with the back-to-back “Chasing the Boogeyman” and “Becoming the Boogeyman.” Now he’s spreading his raven’s wings with the stand-alone “Memorials” about three college classmates who set out, in 1983, to make a school project documentary about highway memorials that crop up after roadside tragedies. Their route is through rural Appalachian territory in northern Pennsylvania. After they begin to notice an eerie symbol at the sites, disturbing and escalating things start to happen that suggest someone’s not happy about their work. “Memorials” is a cool idea that works even though — or maybe because — Chizmar mixes a variety of templates ranging from Hardy Boys-style mystery to skillfully rendered YA darkness a la Daniel Waters to full-blown folk horror. If the novel could have used some trimming, my interest only continued to grow, and the author delivers terrific characters and an underlying mythology that’s wonderfully creepy.

— Rick Koster