The Wreckery

One of the more important bands on the Australian post-punk scene of the 1980s, Melbourne's the Wreckery played dark, atmospheric music informed by the blues and the same sort of chemical and cultural obsessions as their contemporaries <a href="spotify:artist:4UXJsSlnKd7ltsrHebV79Q">Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds</a> -- in fact, co-founder <a href="spotify:artist:6thoVTIStufhPSPgGT9AWe">Hugo Race</a> had been an early member of <a href="spotify:artist:4UXJsSlnKd7ltsrHebV79Q">the Bad Seeds</a>. Guitarist and vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:6thoVTIStufhPSPgGT9AWe">Race</a> formed the Wreckery with guitarist Ed Clayton-Jones in 1984; the group grew from an earlier project, Plays with Marionettes, which also featured multi-instrumentalist Robin Casinader, who had gone to school with <a href="spotify:artist:6thoVTIStufhPSPgGT9AWe">Race</a>. Plays with Marionettes began in 1980 and ended in 1983, when <a href="spotify:artist:1RM5gp0RFfjpJhCYFPB30p">Nick Cave</a> (who had recently left <a href="spotify:artist:5I2hMUcztc6QbzkyLskdt4">the Birthday Party</a>) recruited <a href="spotify:artist:6thoVTIStufhPSPgGT9AWe">Race</a> and latter-day PWM drummer <a href="spotify:artist:5RyAbJ3y4yw8EbDcRblB8S">Mick Harvey</a> (also a <a href="spotify:artist:5I2hMUcztc6QbzkyLskdt4">Birthday Party</a> alumnus) to join his backing band <a href="spotify:artist:4UXJsSlnKd7ltsrHebV79Q">the Bad Seeds</a> after PWM opened for <a href="spotify:artist:1RM5gp0RFfjpJhCYFPB30p">Cave</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:6thoVTIStufhPSPgGT9AWe">Race</a> appeared on <a href="spotify:artist:1RM5gp0RFfjpJhCYFPB30p">Cave</a>'s first album with the <a href="spotify:artist:4UXJsSlnKd7ltsrHebV79Q">Bad Seeds</a>, 1984's From Her to Eternity, and was a guest musician on Kicking Against the Pricks and Tender Prey, but after completing his first tour with <a href="spotify:artist:1RM5gp0RFfjpJhCYFPB30p">Cave</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6thoVTIStufhPSPgGT9AWe">Race</a> reconnected with Clayton-Jones and began writing songs; they decided to form a new group of their own, and took their name from one of their first new tunes, "In My Wreckery." Joining <a href="spotify:artist:6thoVTIStufhPSPgGT9AWe">Race</a>, Clayton-Jones, and Casinader in the Wreckery were Charles Todd on saxophones and Nick Barker on bass; the group released their first EP, I Think This Town Is Nervous, in 1985 on the tiny White/Hot Records label. The better-established <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rampant+Records%22">Rampant Records</a> signed the Wreckery in time to release their second EP, Yeh My People which, like its precursor, did well on the Australian indie charts and helped the band become a frequent presence on the touring circuit. In 1987, the Wreckery released their first full-length album, Here at Pain's Insistence, with another EP, Ruling Energy, following in early 1988. Despite the Wreckery's success, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rampant+Records%22">Rampant Records</a> was having financial problems, and after <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rampant%22">Rampant</a> released a "Best-Of" set titled The Collection, the band jumped ship for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Citadel+Records%22">Citadel Records</a>, who in late 1988 brought out Laying Down the Law, regarded by many as the group's strongest work. However, tensions within the band, exaggerated by touring and health issues, came to a head, and by the time Laying Down the Law was released, the Wreckery had already chosen to split up after a brief tour, with guests standing in for Barker and Casinader. Nick Barker went on to a successful solo career, and <a href="spotify:artist:6thoVTIStufhPSPgGT9AWe">Race</a>, Clayton-Jones, and Casinader remain active in music with a variety of projects. In 2008, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Memorandum+Records%22">Memorandum Records</a> issued Past Imperfect, a two-CD anthology drawn from the group's catalog, and the Wreckery reunited to play a handful of shows in support. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi