Today, though, the quartet Lucky - which features Wednesday Week's vocalist/guitarist Kristi Callan, her sister Kelly on drums, and guitarist/keyboardist David Nolte, plus former Mad Parade member Mike Lawrence on bass - is finding that the time is right for its rockin' pop sound. The band recently played a show during Poptopia, the weeklong L.A. power pop festival.
"I don't know if we fit quite exactly," Kristi Callan says. "We're not quite as pure as some of the [power pop] people who are out there...We were either after our time or before our time."
Still, Lucky flexes a mature pop-rock style on its debut album. "Live A Little," released by Santa Monica, Calif.-based Temple Bar. Especially impressive are Kristi's lead vocals, which may recall a less insolent-sounding Chrissie Hynde; the crisp production of veteran Earle Mankey (best known for his work with Concrete Blonde); and a raft of fine material, including the top-flight originals "I'll Bet" and "I'll Get You Back" and a cover of the Jayhawks' "Settled Down Like Rain."
Members of another notable punk-skewed pop act appear as background vocalists on "Live a Little": Nolte's brothers Joe and Mike, who played with David in the memorable late '70s unit The Last. "It was just perfect," Kristi says. "We had a four-part harmony group together, and we already have a great blend between the four of us."
While Lucky's sound is familiar, the group's songs are written from a rueful, wised-up perspective that was probably beyond the Callans (who coauthored the material with Nolte) as teenage members of Wednesday Week.
"When we first started, we were so sheltered," Kristi says. "Now we have so many more resources to draw on."
Lucky will be hitting the road for shows through the summer, as breaks in
Nolte's touring schedule with David Gray's band allow. Expect to
see the group in the Southwest beginning in mid-April, with appearances
in the Northwest and on the East Coast to follow.
- Chris Morris, Billboard, 3/16/96