(Noble Rot) www.collectorschoicemusic.com

What We Had finally digitalizes the loose ends from one of Los Angeles' most gifted bands. Jangly contemporaries of the Bangles and R.E.M., Wednesday Week might have been the equal of either. Why they never caught the public's fancy is anybody's guess. What's remarkable about the group—singer/guitarist/songwriter Kristi Callan, her sister Kelly on drums and bassist/vocalist Heidi Rodewald (with guitarist David Nolte added later)—is that there seems to have been no learning curve. The earliest tracks from their 1983 EP Betsy's House are just as solid as the songs from their 1986 album debut What We Had and the seven extra sides gathered from various sources. It didn't hurt that the band employed some of the brightest young producers on the college-rock scene (Don Dixon, Vitus Mataré, Earle Mankey), but as John Sebastian once wrote, "the magic's in the music." Wednesday Week certainly had the magic.

Standout Tracks: “Why,” “All That Again” JUD COST