Black Pumas bass playing

[nellie48]

I really like this band. The singer is amazing and the whole retro soulful R&B vibe is done really well. I’ll admit I haven’t been listening to them very long.

That said, I don’t find the bass player’s parts always fit. It’s like they need to flow more with the vibe of the song. Id even go as far as to say some of the parts flat out annoy me. Listen to the first track on their first album, “Black Moon Rising”. I don’t know, it just feels robotic which is the very last thing you’d want in a band like this. Can someone explain musically why I’m feeling this way? And please, feel free to tell me I’m wrong and the bass playing is awesome. Maybe it will help me enjoy the band more.

 

[Michedelic]

I really like this band. The singer is amazing and the whole retro soulful R&B vibe is done really well. I’ll admit I haven’t been listening to them very long.

That said, I don’t find the bass player’s parts always fit. It’s like they need to flow more with the vibe of the song. Id even go as far as to say some of the parts flat out annoy me. Listen to the first track on their first album, “Black Moon Rising”. I don’t know, it just feels robotic which is the very last thing you’d want in a band like this. Can someone explain musically why I’m feeling this way? And please, feel free to tell me I’m wrong and the bass playing is awesome. Maybe it will help me enjoy the band more.

If this take is what you’re referencing…


…I don’t hear anything that is necessarily out of place or deficient. At the top of the verse he gets animated, but then settles into a root note groove…it works. Are there any other songs that bother you? Please post YT links and describe what’s going on, even stating where in the song it is, if you can(“at 2:05, he should doing more with that line”…something like that).

 

[jerry]

I have both of their CDs, never noticed anything that bugged me at all, one of my favorite bands to come out in recent history. They check all the boxes of things I dig.

 

[Michedelic]

I have both of their CDs, never noticed anything that bugged me at all, one of my favorite bands to come out in recent history. They check all the boxes of things I dig.

If you haven’t already, check out Leon Bridges for a smooth sound; then, for the opposite, Black Joe Lewis with a relentless, hard charging punk rock James Brown thing. I’ve seen him live twice, he wore me out, but in a good way.
You might also hear of Thee Sacred Souls, who I was kinda meh with. I saw them open for Belle and Sebastian(of all bands), and every song sounded like “Me And Mrs. Jones”, which is cool and all, but after a couple of tunes, it got old.

 

[jerry]

If you haven’t already, check out Leon Bridges for a smooth sound; then, for the opposite, Black Joe Lewis with a relentless, hard charging punk rock James Brown thing. I’ve seen him live twice, he wore me out, but in a good way.
You might also hear of Thee Sacred Souls, who I was kinda meh with. I saw them open for Belle and Sebastian(of all bands), and every song sounded like “Me And Mrs. Jones”, which is cool and all, but after a couple of tunes, it got old.

I saw Black Joe Louis about ten years ago in Aspen, great stuff!