28th Day

The simple truth is that this record changed my life. It led me to delve deeper into the record store bins and inspired me to make Chico, Calif., my home many years ago. The Complete Recordings encapsulates the all-too-brief yet enduring legacy of the band. 1985’s EP originally issued on Enigma Records garnered critical accolades at home and abroad anchors the reissue, which includes bonus studio tracks, live recordings (notably The Beatles’ “It’s All Too Much”), and a few songs captured by nothing more than a boom box at a practice session (including a particularly revelatory “Prophecy Written”—a song that never saw the band’s studio take). 28th Day drew the obligatory comparisons to R.E.M. based on the time of its release and the group’s exploration steeped in post-Byrds folk-rock jangle. It was, however, the intuitive vocal interplay between guitarist Cole Marquis and bassist Barbara Manning, as well as drummer Mike Cloward’s nervous/urgent drum signature, that set this band apart from the multitude of bands percolating in the ever-expanding ’80s underground.