Wednesday Week Fan Club E.P. #1 EP reissue
This punky pop band out of Los Angeles was active in some form or other from 1979 through 1990. The project centered around sisters Kriti and Kelly Callan (daughters of actress K Callan, who voiced Hank Hill’s mom, Tilly, on King of the Hill from 2000 on!), but also featured, at times, Steve Wynn and David Provost of DREAM SYNDICATE, Kjehl Johansen of URINALS, and David Nolte of the LAST. Early on, they played a brand of jangly pop that seemed to be heavily influenced by sounds coming out of the UK DIY scene (see their great 1983 debut Betsy’s House). Over time, though, they morphed into an act somewhat adjacent to both the Paisley Underground and the Valley-friendly new wave pop rock scenes of the day, failing to fully fit in with either. Their commercial success peaked in 1987 after signing a record deal, putting out an LP, and having a couple of tracks featured on the soundtrack to the comedy slasher Slumber Party Massacre II. What we have here is a reissue of their 1986 self-released fan club EP, which they put out to the disdain of their record label. It kicks off with a cover of “No Such Thing” by AGENT ORANGE, stripping it of all the aggro posturing and proto-thrash production that was requisite of a gang of teenage boys putting out punk music in 1981 and replacing it with sweet BANGLES-esque harmonies and a bare-bones Teenage Shutdown-ish production. It absolutely rules. So much so that I don’t feel the need to go into the remaining three tracks to let you know the release is worth picking up…I mean, they’re fine (except for “Businessman’s Wife”, which sounds like a generic 1987 rootsy bar band number)—Kjehl Johansen even helped write one! They’re just barely notable next to this cover. Limited to 300 copies, so grab one fast!