The Wrecks

Originally posted Sep 5, 2010
“Reno's all girl band were born to a family of ceramic lizards and have been around since about October 1980. These girls range in age from 16 to 18. Hell-n-52, Jone-9, Bess-147, and Lynn-2 months. They play Ozark music on a variety of instruments: Lynn-spoons and mandolin, Bess-fiddle and kazoo, Jone-washboard and harmonica, and Hell-n-banjo and jug. MUSICAL INFLUENCES: Molly Hatchett, Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Lynard Skybard and Aretha Franklin. Just jivin'. SOME OF THEIR PASTIMES INCLUDE going on dates with people who eat glass, collecting empty deodorant containers, and lighting people's underwear on fire.” Not So Quiet On The Western Front

Not So Quiet On The Western Front zine, 1982 [CD inlay, 1999]

“This band hails from Reno, Nevada and is composed of four teenage girls that do mostly all hardcore material. The nine songs on this tape are definitely not of the slam'n'thrash variety but are more akin to art damage, sorta like Flipper. Anyway everything here is original and well, kinda weird. Broken-up rhythms and strange singing abound but this stuff really does grab ya after repeated listenings. Also the lyrics are top notch and these girls definitely have something to say! They deal with subjects such as high school, Cuban refugees, and the all important question about drug use. What ya got here is a fairly rewarding tape from a rebellious crew of teenage girls ready to shake up the system.” Frankie DeAngelis (Ripper #7, May 1982)

Lynn of Reno's The Wrecks. Touch & Go #19

“The Wrecks were one of the first all-female hardcore punk bands. They rocked Reno from 1980 to 1982. Two of the members went on to form the still-active Imperial Teen: Lynn Truell and Jone Stebbins. Lynn was just named one of the 100 best alternative-rock drummers by Spin magazine, which neglected her time in The Wrecks but included her drumming in The Dicks and Sister Double Happiness.” Mark Robison

Bessie Oakley of The Wrecks. Cari L. Marvelli

“She [Bessie Oakley] also happens to be the very definition of a maverick pioneer, if not in terms of settling the land and breaking ponies, then at least culturally speaking. She and her all-girl Hardcore band The Wrecks were matter-of-fact Riot Grrrl before the first people to call themselves 'Riot Grrrls' were out of grade school! I might be forgetting one but I can’t think of another all-girl, or even girl-centric band, in that early American Hardcore era.” Jason Traeger

Jone Stebbins of The Wrecks. Cari L. Marvelli

“Bessie and Jone [Stebbins] weren’t only known for being Wrecks either. They were equally well regarded and probably just as well known for their work as the co-editors of one of the most engaging and well loved fanzines of the time, a brilliant, funny, and charming off-the-cuff serial work of art known as Paranoia 'the magazine for blind and illiterate punks'.” Jason Traeger

Paranoia #1, 1980

“Tesco Vee: How's been the response to your tape? 
Bessie: Good enough for a homo-zine-new wave chronicle like Touch & Go to interview us I guess. Actually pretty good – I think it's cuz we put alot into it.
Lynn: So far pretty good. We get a couple of letters a week for tapes.
Jone: Pretty good, I'm surprised. We've been getting good reviews except those that say we're an art damage band. Fuck yeah we sound like a combination of Rik L Rik and the Slits and David Bowie… I'm sure!
Hell-n: Great – I even saw one in Recycled Records.” Touch & Go #19

“You probably won't be able to get this garage-punk gem anymore, but suffice to say this nine song cassette is both funny and wise — with lots of hardcore thrills mixed in. Even though the WRECKS are no longer with us (sigh), songs like 'Couldn't Believe It' will live on in the annals of punk history. Mark my words.” Steve Spinali (MRR #2)

The Wrecks Teenage Jive Demo Tape (1982)

The Wrecks – Lullaby of the Womb
Get it here.

More info here.

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Punk's An Attitude (Jone "Jetson" Stebbins, 1981)
Swear to God I get sick of people's attitudes
And trying to figure them out
They talk about shit they don't understand
And dress to fit the trend
You can be accepted or rejected
in punk or society
You can play the role, I'll just be myself
Fuck people who think I'm a hippy
or a weekend punk
If they stopped to think they'd see
Punk is an attitude
Punk is an attitude, individuality is the key
Do what you want, don't care what they think
I guess some people just can't see…
Trendies suck!!!