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Favorite punk rock bass player?
- Thread starter Nihilism
- Start date
I don't know if they were already mentioned, but:
"Bomber" from RKL.
Steve Soto from the Adolescents.
"Bomber" from RKL.
Steve Soto from the Adolescents.
Sam who used to play with Agent Orange in the late '90s/early '00s was pretty great...
Sam Bolle is great. Also was longtime bassist for Dick Dale, played with Davie Allan, Fear, Slacktone and many others. Dude has a massive resume.
My all-time punk faves: Dee Dee, Watt, Rob Wright, Steve Garvey (Buzzcocks), Bruce Foxton, Kira, Dukowski.
Chuck really had a different sound than other bassists at the time, but what bothered me with the Descendents bassists was the ridiculous amount of midrange and the overplaying, they stopped playing for the song's sake and got a little "in love" with their own sound. Dee Dee had it right all along, never tried to play what the song sisn't ask for. Just my 2 cents.
Flea played in a punk band called FEAR back in the mid eighties. I'm not sure if he was on any of their recordings though.
Here's are some of my favorite punk bass players:
- Bomber from RKL
- Joe Raposo from RKL and Lagwagon
- Fat Mike from NOFX
- Matt Freeman from Rancid and Operation Ivy
- Joe Principe from 88 Fingers Louie
- Dave Rees from SNFU
- Ian Miller from Skankin' Pickle (if ska punk counts)
- Lex Feltham and Tom Crease from Frenzal Rhomb
- Darryl Jenifer from Bad Brains
- Bomber from RKL
- Joe Raposo from RKL and Lagwagon
- Fat Mike from NOFX
- Matt Freeman from Rancid and Operation Ivy
- Joe Principe from 88 Fingers Louie
- Dave Rees from SNFU
- Ian Miller from Skankin' Pickle (if ska punk counts)
- Lex Feltham and Tom Crease from Frenzal Rhomb
- Darryl Jenifer from Bad Brains
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Dave Rees was actually one of the drummers that SNFU had.
If you are talking about the bass player from that era of SNFU, it was Rob Johnson who played with them during that period.
Ah, you're right. Yeah that's the era I'm talking about. Although, all of their albums are actually fairly impressive bass wise.
Definitely. I was pretty fortunate to grow up in Edmonton and catch these guys at local shows in their heyday with the original lineup. Energy off the charts. Makes me a little depressed to see Chi Pig now. Good for him to still be at it I guess.
No, I haven't seen him lately ... has Chi progressed, regressed or stayed the same or become staid? Out of all those options I'd say the only good one is "progressed".
@blindrabbit, We probably knocked elbows or heads at some of those gigs. Maybe at Krieg...
Do you remember Euthanasia? Or some of the punk gigs that also had KD Lang & The ReClines on the bill?
SNFU were kings of the merch table, at the time I thought it was a bit much
, but now I see and understand it quite differently 
.
@blindrabbit, We probably knocked elbows or heads at some of those gigs. Maybe at Krieg...
Do you remember Euthanasia? Or some of the punk gigs that also had KD Lang & The ReClines on the bill?
SNFU were kings of the merch table, at the time I thought it was a bit much
, but now I see and understand it quite differently .
Cool thread. Haven't read it all but I see a lot of my faves namechecked already.
In case he hasn't been mentioned, I'd like to add Steve Hanley from The Fall.
In case he hasn't been mentioned, I'd like to add Steve Hanley from The Fall.
Flea didn't record with FEAR. Their bass player was Fred "Derf" Scratch. Fred is a fine musician, bass was never his one thing. That Hollywood punk scene was really incredible, it was all Art Rock, really. Lots of cross pollination with X, Los Lobos, The Blasters, Top Jimmy and the Rhythm Pigs.
If you add in the likes of X, LLobos, Blasters etc, you gotta add Tony Kinmen from Rank & File! He and his brother Chip had a punk band before R&F... [checking Wiki] "Dils". I never knew them when they were in Dils, just R&F.
Loved all that stuff, still do.
Loved all that stuff, still do.
No, I haven't seen him lately ... has Chi progressed, regressed or stayed the same or become staid? Out of all those options I'd say the only good one is "progressed".
@blindrabbit, We probably knocked elbows or heads at some of those gigs. Maybe at Krieg...
Do you remember Euthanasia? Or some of the punk gigs that also had KD Lang & The ReClines on the bill?
SNFU were kings of the merch table, at the time I thought it was a bit much
Hey, you are from Edmonton too? See, I knew there was a reason why you were so cool!
I do remember the punk KD Lang - craziness. I was incredulous when she became this mainstream country star. I caught some gigs at the Polish Hall and the Ambo and a couple of other places I can't really remember well. Truth be told I was a young punk
back them who didn't fully appreciate everything that I was being exposed to until it was too late. Oh, for a time machine...even just to have kept my SNFU shirts so I could be selling them on ebay for $400 now! 
As for Chi, that's him in that image I posted. There is a mini-documentary of him on YT...let me see if I can find and link it here. He's still singing and playing with SNFU these days (basically him and a bunch of other new guys surrounding him), but he had a long stretch where he was addicted and homeless, living on the streets of Vancouver, and you can tell the toll that this took on him. For example, he lost all of his teeth (meth, I'm guessing), and so he wears the dentures now, but that doesn't work when you are trying to sing, so...yeah, out they come during shows. He seems to be doing much better nowadays, but dude fell hard.
Here's one interview with him. Be warned - NSFW language is used in it. Gives you an idea of where he's at now.
I cut my teeth in my early teens on Ian Miller's bass playing. I learned so much from that guy! I didnt know if anyone else cared about Skankin Pickle!
The Dils were fabulous. Here they are doing probably their most "famous" song, Class War:
