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WRECK OF OLD'98
12'

I moved from the Netherlands to the UK in 2000, not knowing what to expect or knowing anyone but my girlfriend. Within a few weeks however, I had met the people involved in the S.T.E. collective, from the nearby town of Southampton, and with that some of the best friends I have ever made, and the ones that helped make me feel at home here.
Fast forward a few years and some of them, after previously having been in bands like MINUTE MANIFESTO & CIRCUS ACT, are now doing this new band called WRECK OF OLD'98 - named after both the Woody Guthrie song and an earlier attempt to do a band together. My friends Adam and Rich keep telling me how amazing they are and when they play Brighton a few weeks later, I am floored. They turn out to be everything I want in a punk band; exciting, inspiring, enthusiastic, passionate & political. All this and played by people I consider my friends. Musically they're a feast for everyone who loves the MINUTEMEN & the BIG BOYS - though I've also heard people compare them to ASSFACTOR 4 & REACTIONARY 3, if those bands mean more to you. Still the MINUTEMEN comparison seems to be the most spot to me, even if the band itself liked to joke they were actually a SOLANKI cover band (* Solanki were an amazing band from Leeds who sounded just like the Minutemen. Check out their superb 10" on Flat Earth, untill very recently Sned even had some copies left for cheap). After WRECK OF OLD '98 mentioned in passing they were planning to release some songs on a cdr, I stepped in. As far as I was concerned this was easily the best, most exciting and inspiring band the UK had produced in the last 5+ years, and so something that should be heard by more than a handful of friends. So I suggested to put it out on vinyl instead. Long story short, with the help of loads and loads of friends, all helping out with the many tasks involved, the WRECK OF OLD '98 - 12" saw the light early on in 2005. By then the band had already come to an end, as was always planned, due to Ross's move to Australia. Before he left however, I managed to sort them out a small tour in the Netherlands, while Flo helped with a similar trip to Germany, making sure more than just locals got the chance to see this great band in action. To me Wreck were everything a good punk band should be; passionate, heartfelt, intelligent and fun. They had a sense of individuality , while wearing their obvious influences on their sleeve. They were part of their own local community, and connected with it, through the lyrics and songs they wrote. They did their own thing instead of following the well trodden route of taking the easy way out by playing whatever watered down subgenre the rest of the global sheepish punkherd had deemed cool and wanted to hear that year. Wreck Of Old98 did what they did because it felt right to them and were all the more punk for it.
This 12" was released in collaboration with Superfi, sncl, Milliepeed and Weight Of Days. Wreck Of Old 98 also did a split 7" with The Last Kiss, which should definitely be tracked down as well. The 12" however, remains my own personal favorite as it best seems to combine all the different elements I loved about this band.
p.s. if anyone has a good scan of the record cover or the booklet....please get in touch.

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