The Wreckery
were Melbourne’s kings of proto-gothic alternative
rock in the mid Eighties, cramming rooms up and down the East Coast with their
dark, twisted neo-blues. With a short career beset by label difficulties and a
reputation for hard living, The Wreckery's legacy has never been fully explored
and their records have remained out of print for nearly two decades.
They were infamous, in a time when heroin chic was de rigueur, and Bukowski and
Burroughs topped everyone’s reading lists, The Wreckery became the poster boys
for the dark side. The band was tapping the seam of the old delta blues and the
Flannery O’Connoresque imagery of a toxic, dilapidated world. They were living
it for better and ultimately for worse.
Along with the Birthday Party and the Beasts of Bourbon, The Wreckery helped
pioneer the particularly Melbourne-centric, ‘dirty-alt.blues’ sound made
popular in recent years by The Drones, The Witch Hats, The Scare, Black Pony
Express and The Devastations.
In July 2008, The Wreckery will return to the record stores with a new 2CD set
entitled 'Past Imperfect', a release on the Memorandum label featuring 24 key
tracks from the bands recorded output and is a comprehensive selection of songs
that spans the entire career of the band. All of the tracks are completely
remastered and are presented in a deluxe gatefold wallet with a 24 page booklet
featuring a fantastic array of photographs and artwork. The booklet is enhanced
by informative and entertaining liner notes from band-leader Hugo Race.
The band was formed by Hugo Race and Ed Clayton-Jones upon their return to Australia from tenure with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in Europe and the USA. Robin Casinader joined on drums
having played with Hugo and Ed in the Art punk outfit ‘Plays with Marionettes’.
Nick Barker and Charles Todd finished the lineup upon bass and sax respectively.
Tracklisting.
1. No Shoes
For This Road
2. Good To Be Gone
3. Hometown Exile
4. Body Like a Stone
5. Holy Honey
6. I Can't Say
7. Baby Play Dead
8. Clue To My Desire
9. Kickdown
10. Passion Fall Down
11. Base Devil
12. Governors Pleasure
13. Ruling Energy
14. I Think This Town is Nervous
15. The Understudy
16. Crooked Tree
17. Laying Down Law
18. Yeh My People
19. Two Wings
20. Everlasting Sleep
21. Grinder Mill
22. Damned is Hard
23. Overload
24. Bending the Bars
