Former Daily Sparks Tribune photographer Gary Elam took this shot of The Wrecks performing in the early ’80s.
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A new gAllery exhibition celebrAtes the birth of hArdcore punk in reno And reintroduces the wrecks, the cit y’s legendAry All-femAle bAnd
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t a Reno house party in October 1980, four teenaged girls attacked their musical instruments, playing the down and dirty, loud and fast version of punk rock that was only just then becoming known as hardcore. Vocalist Hell’n Keller shouted into the mic as bassist Bessie Wrecks, guitarist Jone Jetson and drummer Lynn Lust played quickly and loudly. The rhythms sometimes seemed to stutter. The execution was sloppy, but the songwriting was honest, and the energy was electric. This was the first show of the band The Wrecks. They couldn’t tune their
instruments, and they played only three songs. But it was somehow compelling. “They weren’t very good,” said Gary Elam, a musician who was then also a photographer for the Sparks Tribune. “But it didn’t seem to hold them back. That’s what everybody liked about them. They just went for it. ‘This is what we’re going to do, and if you don’t like it, tough.’ It was such a rare thing. The hardcore punk that was emerging at that time—you didn’t see very many girls. And the four of them were really trying. They weren’t horrible—they were as good as anybody else, really.”
“I LOVE WRECK AND ROLL” continued on pAge 14 OPINION
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JULY 23, 2015
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